A tennis romance
by life beyond wishes
Summary: Ryoma didn't know or cared much of love. It was just too bad for him that love doesn't discriminate against the oblivious or the uncaring. Yukiryo. AU
1. Beginning

This is my story re-written. Hope this is better than the other one.

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

* * *

"Ne, Echizen-kun. Are you going to the tennis club?"

Ryoma turned around and stared blankly at Kachiro, his new classmate. Giving a short "ah", he turned and headed to his destination, the tennis club. Finding his attitude very cool, they began following him and introducing themselves. "I am Kachiro and he is Katsuo. We are your new classmates."

Not giving a reply, Ryoma continued to walk forward. Mistaking his action as a sign to continue talking, they told him more about themselves. But before they could say more, a bunch of third-years ran past them and accidentally knocked Ryoma on the ground. "Ryoma-kun! Are you alright?" Katsuo and Kachiro asked worriedly.

The group of seniors stops running and walked towards them, a guy with red hair popped the bubble in his mouth and said, "Sorry for banging into you! Are you alright?" Slightly glaring at the group of seniors, he gave a soft "che" and stood up. While standing up, they noticed that he was holding a tennis bag.

"Do you play tennis? That's good! We are part of the club! Let us bring you there! Let me do an introduction, I am Marui Bunta. The guy with silver hair is Niou. Beside him are the data masters, Inui and Yanagi. Come on! We will talk in the club room! Yukimura-buchou will be so happy that I found such a cute member!" Marui said happily while dragging Ryoma to the club room. Within seconds, they were gone.

"Whoa. That was fast. We better quicken our footsteps to catch up with them." Kachiro told Katsuo before hurrying off.

"As the tournaments are approaching, why don't we will hold a inter match between our teams and the winner shall participate in the tournaments."

A discussion between the heads of the tennis team was being held. As the tennis team was very big. The players were split into three teams, Seigaku, Hyotei and Rikkaidai. The heads of the team were Tezuka, Atobe and Yukimura respectively.

"What about each team sending a doubles pair and a singles player. Won't that be better?"

Currently, they were discussing whether to let the winning team participate or to let each team send out a doubles pair and a singles player.

"YUKIMURA-BUCHOU! Look! I found this cute first year just now! Can he join Rikkaidai?" Marui said while barging in. "Opps. Sorry for interrupting the meeting." Marui muttered when he saw everyone staring at him and the annoyed Ryoma.

"Bunta, 20 laps around the court for interrupting a meeting and not knocking before entering." Yukimura commanded. Giving a small "hai", he dragged Ryoma out of the meeting and went to run his assigned laps.



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Please review and share your thoughts on this story with me. No matter good or bad, I believe it will help improve the story.

Oh. And for the pairings, I am not sure whether I should put yukimura/ryoma or marui/ryoma. Please tell me which is better.

_Life beyond wishes_


	2. Distribution

Note: Well, I apologise for my indecisiveness. I wasn't sure whether to write Ryoma as a female or male but now I have decided, Ryoma will be a guy.

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me

* * *

"Everyone gather! Now all the new members will be split into the three respective teams, Seigaku, Hyotei and Rikkaidai. All first years are to register with Oishi and Yagyuu at the register counter beside the club room. The second and third years are to go to their respective captains and start practicing. " Ryuuzaki-sensei ordered. Immediately, all the students scattered to their respective stations.

The first year were divided by drawing a piece of paper which writes either one of the three teams. After drawing the paper, the seniors-in-charge would write it down. After being assigned to a team, you will be given a shirt. If you are from Seigaku, you would receive a blue shirt. And if you are from Hyotei or Rikkaidai, you will get a purple or yellow shirt respectively.

As the school was well known as being the best tennis school in Japan, majority of the male students who joined this school was interested in tennis, thus, the tennis club was filled with members. Only the best could represent the school in playing the tournaments and most of the time, the competition within the school was greater than the competition outside the school.

"Ne, Echizen. Do you think that you can become a regular? With my two years of tennis experience, I think I could get a few points from the captain in a match." Horio, a first year that Kachiro and Katsuo befriended boasted.

Ryoma, together with Kachiro, was assigned to Rikkaidai while Horio, together with an irritated looking Katsuo, was assigned to Seigaku. Resisting the urge to hit the loud-mouth Horio, Ryoma shot him a piercing glare, causing him to shut up and cower behind Katsuo.

A group of second years walking past them heard what Horio said and walked towards them. In a cold voice, he said, "Don't overestimate yourself. All three of the captains could beat you in a love game within less than 10 minutes." Roughly pushing the stupefied Horio to the side and was reaching for Ryoma when other hand stretched out and grabbed it. "There will not be any violence within the club." A voice void of emotion said.

Everyone looked at the person talking and gasped. The second year member who pushed Horio immediately muttered an apology to the Rikkaidai buchou.

Although Yukimura was not his captain, all three captains were well-respected in the whole tennis team. Whenever a captain is insulted, all the members will jump to his defense.

Yukimura saw the boy and found him very familiar, remembering that he was with Marui just now. He took the opportunity to take a good look at him. Blessed with silky emerald locks and enchanting golden eyes, Ryoma made heads turn wherever he goes. If Ryoma wasn't in the tennis team, Yukimura would have thought he was a girl.

Knowing that Ryoma would not like being called a girl, he did not voice his opinion but instead turn to Horio. Sending him with a cold glare, he said, "If you think you are so good, prove it in the ranking tournament. I will help you request to be placed in the same block as Tezuka."

Giving out a small "yip", Horio straightened his back and started to mutter something incomprehensible. Yukimura was about to say something when Atobe called him. "I do

not want to see violence again. Anyone who resorts to violence will be punished." After saying that, he left to find Atobe.

* * *

(In America)

"Nanako-chan. How do you think that brat is doing?"

Nanako turned slightly at the voice but continued to prune the flowers. "Ryoma-san should be alright. If you are worried, why don't you go to Japan?"

"Who said I was worried about him? Besides, he said we had to give a one week notice before going there. Or else he would do something that would make me regret." Nanjiroh said, shivering as he remembered the time he made Ryoma so angry that he revealed all the secret hiding places that Nanjiroh never knew he knew to Rinko and Nanako. _My poor magazines._

"It's time for dinner! Come in and eat!" Rinko shouted from the kitchen. Deciding that dinner was more important currently, he ran to the kitchen for dinner. "That brat would be just fine with his attitude."

Tucking in to their dinner, the Echizen family had Ryoma on each of their mind.

* * *

This is the end of chapter 2. Hope you enjoy it.

To the reviewers, thanks for reviewing.

Reviews would be nice, whether it is good or bad.

_Life beyond wishes_


	3. Ranking

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis do not belong to me

Note: In this story, there will be 3 singles and 3 doubles in every team.

* * *

"All Rikkaidai members gather!"

Hearing this announcement, Kachiro and Ryoma seperated from Horio and Katsuo and ran towards the Rikkaidai gathering area. The regulars were standing right in front of the captain who facing the team. Ryoma saw the talkative red head that pulled him around and was surprised that he was a regular.

Going to their position, Kachiro and Ryoma stood at where the first years are. The place was so quiet that the only sound heard was the sound of rustling leaves. "Unlike other schools, we allow the first years to compete in the ranking tournament. This is to give everyone a fair chance to be a regular. Yanagi has made a list on the 4 blocks. The 1st and 2nd of the 4 blocks will be regulars. The 3rd of each block shall compete to see who will become the last regular. Is that clear?" Yukimura ordered.

A loud 'yes' responded his question and they rush to see with block they were in.

1st block: Yukimura, Yagyuu, Kachiro and others

2nd block: Sanada, Yanagi and others

3rd block: Ryoma, Kirihara, Jackal and others

4th block: Niou, Marui and others

(Others refers to the many other people in the block)

* * *

After going to their respective blocks, the matches started. Kachiro barely lasted until the third round before he was defeated. Yukimura and the past year regulars were winning their opponents in love games. What made everyone shocked was that Ryoma was also defeating his opponents without letting them score a point.

In the first block, Yukimura won Yagyuu easily and was the first to be a regular. Yagyuu, beating Kaneda who got third, secured his position as a regular too.

In the second and fourth block, Sanada, Yanagi, Niou and Marui also made it to the regulars. Sanada won Yanagi 6-3 while Niou won Marui 7-5.

The top three in block 3 are Ryoma, Kirihara and Jackal. Winning Jackal by 6-4, Kirihara was definitely a regular. Surprisingly, Ryoma won both Kirihara and Jackal at 6-3 and 6-2 respectively.

Jackal's only chance to be a regular was to win the other people who ranked 3rd in their respective blocks. As he had more experience and determination than the rest, he won and became a regular.



* * *

So the regulars in Rikkaidai were Yukimura, Sanada, Ryoma, Yanagi, Kirihara, Yagyuu, Marui, Jackal and Niou.

In Seigaku, the regulars are Tezuka, Fuji, Inui, Oishi, Momoshiro, Kaidoh, Kawamura, kikumaru and Saeki.

In Hyotei, the regulars are Atobe, Oshitari, Gakuto, Shishido, Jiroh, Ohtori, Kabaji, Hiyoshi and Yuuta.

* * *

When the news spread that a first year became a regular, everyone was shocked. Ryoma was an instant celebrity; even the Rikkaidai regulars except Ryoma were talking about him.

"Ryoma-chan is not only cute, he is also skilled!" Marui said out happily.

'Echizen Ryoma. Where have I heard that name before?' Niou thought, he did not see the freshman before but found the name very familiar. Suddenly, he stood up causing his chair to topple, "I got it! I know who he is!"

Everyone stared at him like he had grown another head. Calming down a little, he said "We were childhood friends. I remembered how we met."

_Flashback _

"There you are, Masaharu-kun! There is a cute five year old child over there! Let's make friends with him!" Nina exclaimed. Seven years old Niou nodded his head and went over to invite him to join their game. Accepting his invitation, he asked, "What are you playing?"

"Superheroes saving the world from evil villains. Do you want to be a hero or a villain?" Nina asked. "A villain." Ryoma asked. Slightly surprised, Niou asked why. "Because," Ryoma started, "if you are a hero, the other heroes will see you as a competitor and would not want to talk to you. However, if you are a villain, the reputation of the hero will increase after catching you and he will talk to you. Am I right?"

Confused by his weird theory, they let him be the villain and this was how their weird friendship started.

_End of flashback_

"He thinks differently from the rest of us. That's why he doesn't like to talk." Niou added. Everyone was surprised that the trickster knew the freshman that defeated two of their regulars easily.

"Excuse me; the council has an announcement to make." Kaji, the student council secretary, said while entering the club room. "All the tennis regulars are to gather at the main club room."

* * *

This is the end of the third chapter.

I put Yuuta and Saeki here because of the lack of good players in the teams.

Please review.

_Life beyond wishes_


	4. News

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis do not belong to me

* * *

"The student council wants to make an announcement."

Glancing at the regulars of the tennis team, excluding ryoma, who have went home before anyone knew, he continued, "As this was a boy's school until last year, we did not hold any beauty competitions. However, many male students suggested and after taking a vote, we decided to hold a beauty pageant for the female students. But the majority of the students are boys so the girls insisted that if they had to competed, the boys would have to compete too." Sighing, he said, "The girls are a clever bunch. They knew that the males would not compete unless they were made to do so. So they requested that one male from every club would have to cross dress and participate in the event. As the tennis club has three separate teams, one representative will be needed from each team." Everyone could not believe their ears. They stared at the council secretary like he had gone crazy.

Sanada, Shishido and a couple of the regulars glared at Kaji causing him to sweat buckets. The older Fuji and Yukimura smiled creepily at him causing him to lose his cool. He now knew why nobody wanted to announce this news to the tennis club.

"Err, since I have delivered the news, I will be leaving." After saying that, he quickly bowed and ran as fast as he could away from the tennis club, vowing that he would never step near the club as long as he lived.

"So, who should we sent to the competition?"

The regulars of the three teams had split up and they were now discussing who they should send to the competition. The Rikkaidai team was not sure what to say. Their captain had a high chance of winning if they sent him in the competition but no one suggested that as they did not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

Suddenly, Yagyuu thought of someone. "How about the new regular, Echizen Ryoma? He is quite feminine and has a small build." Everyone agreed before Niou said, "What if he doesn't want to enter? That brat's kind of scary when angered."

Niou shivered remembering the time Ryoma's dad teased him and ended up going to the hospital because of the twist serves Ryoma aimed at his head.

To make Niou shiver, the regulars thought an angry Ryoma must have been very scary. The only two regulars that are pretty enough were Ryoma and Yukimura. They might not know how scary Ryoma is when angered, but they believe that they would rather face an angry Ryoma than an angry Yukimura.

Deciding on telling Ryoma about him being entered in the competition the next day, they split up and went their separate ways.

* * *

"Who should we enter?"

Gathering outside the clubroom were the Seigaku regulars who were in a pitch as they have no idea who to send.

Tezuka and Inui were impossible. Momoshiro, Kawamura and Kaidoh were not possible too as they had too much muscles and would probably give others nightmare. The only four regulars left were Saeki, Fuji, Kikumaru and Oishi. Out of the four, Kikumaru and Fuji were the more feminine looking ones. However, afraid to incur Fuji's wrath, no one mentioned his name.

"Is it okay if we entered you, Kikumaru?"

Kikumaru gave a loud "eh" before saying, "Why me? Can't it be someone else?"

However, his protests were useless as they had already written his name down and submitted it to the council. Putting his arms around Kikumaru's shoulder, Oishi offered to buy him some ice-cream. Before anyone could blink, Kikumaru was in hyper mood, pulling Oishi out of the school.

After Kikumaru left, the regulars went their separate ways. Momoshiro was heading to the burger shop were his girlfriend was waiting for him. Tezuka and Inui went to the library to discuss the training schedules while the rest went back home.

* * *

"Ore-sama wants Gakuto to enter the competition."

The reactions from the regulars vary from shock to disgust. "With him representing us we will surely lose." Shishido sneered. His doubles partner, Ohtori, reprimanded, "That's not very nice, Shishido-san."

"I entered you because Seigaku is sending Kikumaru Eiji. Don't you want to win him?" Atobe asked, smirking. "Of course I want too! I shall represent Hyotei and win that Kikumaru!"

Thus, the representative of Hyotei was chosen rather quickly and they were released from practice.

* * *

This is the end of chapter 4.

Please review.

_Life beyond wishes_


	5. Announcement

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

Note: Hmm, the paring with the highest vote is the Fuji/ryoma pair or a no pairing fan fiction. I will be closing the vote a few chapters later so if you want a different pairing, please vote.

* * *

"Wait for me Ryoma!"

A sleepy Ryoma turned around to see a hyper Marui bouncing towards him and then onto him, causing him to fall on the ground. Irritated, he growled, "What do you think you are doing, Marui-sempai?"

With his messy soft hair all over the place and slightly flushed faced, Ryoma looked adorable in Marui's eyes. Not able to resist the temptation of hugging Ryoma, Marui hugged him and said, "Call me Bunta!"

Taking the grunt Ryoma gave as an answer, he dragged him to school while talking all the way. When they entered the school, the girls started to greet both of them. Marui was popular because of his looks and his position as a regular. Ryoma, on the other hand, was popular once he stepped into the school compound as the found his pretty face and non-social attitude attractive. His female classmates practically worshipped the ground he walked on. The fact that he was a regular only boosted his popularity.

Seeing the two of them together made the fan girls scream and rush to greet them. However, a warning glare from Ryoma made them stop shouting and walked the opposite direction. The braver ones gave a small 'hello' before walking away quickly.

The Fuji brothers, Atobe and Yukimura saw this amusing scene and chuckled, while Tezuka just stared at him before walking away. As the three captains and the Fuji brothers stay near to each other, they often walk to school together, discussing about tennis on the way. Once in a while, Tezuka would give a couple of comments to the topic and then remain quiet.

Marui, spotting Yukimura quickly waved and dragged Ryoma over. Unable to balance, Ryoma tripped on a stone and knocked into Yukimura, causing them to twist and fall on the ground. Ryoma was lying on the ground with Yukimura on top of him. As he was much lighter and was not as strong as Yukimura, Ryoma could only sigh and wait for him to get off.

To Ryoma it might be nothing, but to the students around, this was the best gossip ever. A love triangle between the Rikkaidai regulars would make things more interesting. Not knowing what happened, Yukimura got off Ryoma and walked away, not before biding them goodbye.

Still very sleepy, Ryoma walked off to his classroom without saying a word. Seeing that the show was over, Fuji placed an arm around his younger brother before leading him to his classroom, ignoring Yuuta's protests about what others would think.

* * *

"Go away. You attract trouble like rubbish entices flies."

Ryoma was walking out of his classroom during recess when he was attacked from the back by Marui.

Pouting, Marui said, "That's not very nice, Ryoma-chan. I just came here to tell you something." Hesitating slightly when he remembered Niou's expression, he took a 

deep breath before saying, "You are selected to enter a competition. For more information, you can ask Yukimura-buchou."

Not daring to reveal more, he ran back to his class. Curious, Ryoma decided to ask Yukimura to find out the details.

* * *

Walking towards the third year's classroom, he stopped and entered Yukimura's room. He was sitting with Fuji, Kikumaru, Tezuka, Sanada and Atobe, chatting happily.

As Ryoma was rather popular in school, people started to mumble to each other. Ignoring them, Ryoma walked up to the seniors and said, "Yukimura-buchou, Marui-sempai said you entered me in a competition and said to find you for more details."

Yukimura, wearing his ever-present smile, said softly, "Ryoma-kun that can wait. Let me introduce my friends. This is Fuji Syuusuke, Kikumaru Eiji and Tezuka Kunimitsu. They are from Seigaku team. You know Genichirou and this is Atobe Keigo, from the Hyotei team. Tezuka and Atobe are the captains of their respective teams. And please call me Seiichi." Hearing that, everyone was surprised as he rarely let others to call him by his first name, unless he respects or likes the person a lot.

Not bothering that Yukimura called he using his first name, he said, "Seiichi-buchou, it's nice to meet your friends but that wasn't why I came here."

Smile widening by a bit, he said, "Oh, that. You are entered in the Beauty contest organized by the student council. If you have any complaints, you can find them."

Before anyone could say anything, Ryoma stomped out of the room and towards the council room. Within the next few minutes, a few students came running in saying that Ryoma killed half of the council members. Smiling amusedly, Yukimura gave a soft "saa" before starting a conversation with Fuji.

Tezuka and Sanada sighed, thinking that the tennis club has an interesting member.

* * *

"The tennis club is scary."

The remaining members were patching the injured members of the student council. Ryoma had come and annihilated half of their club members. They regretted messing with the tennis club. "Let's never involve the tennis team in anything that might risk our lives."

The rest of the members can't help but agree.

* * *

Please review and vote for the pairings.

_Life beyond wishes_


	6. Competition

NOTE: I have closed the votes; the pairings will most likely be Yukimura and ryoma. Thanks for voting and reviewing.

Oh, and if you want to know, Yukimura won Marui and Fuji by about 5 to 10 votes.

The order was (Yukimura - Fuji and Marui - Tezuka, Atobe - Sanada) from the most to the least.

* * *

"Why am I the second to go out?" Ryoma growled. The Rikkaidai regulars, not including Yukimura, gulped and Marui rushed an excuse to pacify Ryoma.

One week has past from the day Ryoma confronted the student council. Only after Yukimura asked him nicely to participate did he back down. The regulars have stopped practice for awhile to the annoyance of Sanada to help dress Ryoma up in all sorts of costumes. Ryoma was mortified by the outfit selected by the seniors and promised to take revenge, to the amusement of Yukimura.

After selecting the outfit, they found out a special talent that Ryoma had that they did not know. Planning on making him perform that special talent, they made him play a difficult classic piece.

* * *

"Thank you for attending our school's first beauty contest held for males!"

The response was overwhelming; everyone came to support their team members or their idols. Almost the whole school was present. The boys will be performing before the girls and everyone wanted to see how the boys looked like.

"First up, it's Kato from the karate club. He will be performing some karate moves."

A Kabaji-look alike came onto the stage in a yellow puffy dress and poorly done makeup. When he walked onto the stage, everyone's faces paled and some felt like vomiting. "Um, that is contestant number one! Next is Echizen Ryoma from the Rikkaidai tennis team. He will be performing a piece on the violin." The announcer said brightly after Kato finished his moves, trying to forget the horrible scene he saw just now.

Unlike the first contestant, Ryoma took everyone's breath away as he walked to the front with cat-like graceful movement. Wearing a yellow sundress with light makeup and a flower at the side of his long wig, it made him looked even prettier than he was already. Looking at him, a couple of guys had fainted with blood following out of their noses. Ryoma's fan girls were surprised that Ryoma could play the violin and was screaming their voices out.

Taking out his violin, Ryoma begin to play his piece. Tezuka looked surprised; he did not know Ryoma would play his favourite song. "That is Polonaise Brillante No. 1 in D Major by Henryk Wieniawski. I didn't know Echizen was a fan of classical music that is a rather difficult piece." Pushing up his glasses, he continued murmuring, "That's data. I wonder if he has any other talents."

Many pupils and teachers were awestruck by his performance. After snapping out of their daze, everyone clapped loudly and shouted for encore. Blushing slightly, he walked back down the runway.

The rest were quite normal except Gakuto and Kikumaru, who fought backstage before their respective captains asked them to run 100 laps each after the contest. Ryoma, unsurprisingly, won the contest by getting 180 votes out of 200, winning the contest instantly.

The Rikkaidai regulars came rushing towards him, patting his head and congratulating him on his success in becoming the prettiest boy in the school compound, causing him to growl at them. His fans were screaming away that he was the greatest prodigy in the world.

Due to the noise, he did not hear his phone ringing.

* * *

"What's wrong with that brat? Why isn't he answering his phone?" Nanjiroh said. "They are going to find trouble for him. Rinko! We are going back to Japan now, whether he likes it or not."

* * *

This chapter is rather short, I won't be updating for a couple of days because of school work so I apologise in advance.

_Life beyond wishes_


	7. Camp

Thanks for the reviews and to those who have voted. The official pairing is YUKIMURA and RYOMA. Thus, from this chapter on, the votes are over. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"What do you think you are doing here, you old man. Didn't I tell you to call me a week in advance before coming?"

Ryoma glared his father causing the older man to shiver and whine, "But Ryoma-kun, I was worried because you didn't answer my call."

"You called during school hours and expect me to answer?!" Ryoma stared at his father and wondered whether he had read too many of his picture magazine and gone crazy. Scratching his head in embarrassment, Nanjiroh confessed that he had forgotten the time difference.

"Ryoma-chan, it doesn't matter that much right? I'll make your favorite Japanese meal tonight okay?" Immediately, his mood changed for the better. Giving a happy 'hai', he went back to his room, making his father wonder how he can change his mood so quickly. "Like a girl." Nanjiroh thought in his mind, not daring to voice his thoughts in fear of incurring Ryoma's wrath.

"I should have known better, Ryoma having an interest in someone? Sounds as possible as Rinko not throwing my magazines away when she sees then, which is quite impossible." Thinking about his magazines, Nanjiroh gave a dreamy sigh before walked into the kitchen humming a cheery tune. "After all, if they would need permission to date him. And to get that, they would have to get at least three games from me in tennis."

* * *

"Ne, Echizen. I heard that your parents came over yesterday. Why are you not living them?"

Niou asked curiously, he didn't know that their youngest regular was staying by himself. His question attracted the attention of the other regulars.

"Eh! Ryoma-kun is living alone?" Marui asked, shocked. He found the younger brother adorable and treated him like a little brother. The boy in question merely shrugged his shoulders and looked away.

"Ryoma-chan, please share with us your reason. We are all very curious as to why you live alone." Yukimura inquired politely, but his voice was one that people would find hard to disobey.

"Che, my father said that the tennis players in Japan were quite good and as my mother knew I liked tennis, she enrolled me here. I didn't want that perverted monk to live with me so I said I would live alone in my cousin's old apartment she bought before she got married."

"Perverted monk? Are you saying your father?" Yanagi questioned before continuing, "According to my data, your father was one of the greatest tennis players in the world before he quit and left the tennis world. He beat George Smith, ranked the 13th in the world, with his eyes closed."

"Your father is Samurai Nanjiroh, isn't he? He was my idol when I was about five." Kirihara said excitedly, "Could we meet him? Please?"

With a firm 'no', Ryoma knew that his father would embarrass him if he let them meet him. Seeing that Ryoma will not change his mind, Sanada commanded that all of them were to go and practice immediately.

After all of them had left, Yukimura commented softly, "You don't have to be so uptight, Genichirou. We are only discussing about Nanjiroh-san. Oh, and wasn't he your idol when you were young?"

Blushing slightly, Sanada excused himself, leaving Yukimura to his own thoughts.

* * *

"As the tournaments are approaching, the captains and Ryuuzaki-sensei decided that all three teams will participate in the tournaments, so we decided to have a joint camp training for the regulars in one of Atobe's summer house over the holidays which are three weeks away. Attendance is compulsory and those late will be punished, the sleeping arrangements will be told on the day itself. Are you all clear?" Sanada's voice boomed and echoed the place.

The regulars gave a loud 'yes' before discussing the details after Sanada dismissed them. "I hope I will be in the same room as Ryoma-chan!" Marui said before smothering Ryoma with his hugs.

"According to my data, the possibility that Sanada and Yukimura will be placed in the same room is 100 percent. The rest will most likely be the doubles assigned to the same room. Ryoma and Kirihara will most likely be placed together." Yanagi said unconsciously.

Looking at the person they were predicted to share the room with, Ryoma gave a 'che' before pulling his hat lower while Kirihara groaned at the fact that he was placed in the same room as one of the quietest guys in the team. "The brats are placed together, that must be fate." Niou said, snickering with one hand covering his mouth.

Not able to take the seniors, Ryoma turned and headed home, extremely happy to be able to ditch his father for a week and play tennis at the same time.

* * *

"Ryoma-sama, I heard you are going to the tennis camp. You are so cool!" Tomoka, his fan club president came bouncing up to him and began talking non-stop, her friend, Sakuno was trailing behind her. Just when Ryoma's patience was about to snap, Yukimura came walking into the class causing everyone to gasp by the usage of Ryoma's first name. "Ryoma-chan, would you like to join us for lunch?"

Hearing his name, Ryoma turned around and greeted Yukimura, "Seiichi-buchou, will you wait for awhile? I have to take my bento."

Enlarging his ever-present smile, he nodded and after Ryoma took his bento, they walked away leaving a lot of shocked students gaping at their back. "D-Did Ryo-Ryoma-sama just called Yukimura-buchou by his first name?" Tomoka stuttered. Katsuo and Kachiro nodded in a daze, they didn't know that Ryoma was so close to the regulars, especially Yukimura-buchou.

Horio was gaping like a goldfish; he was unable to form a proper sentence. Only after Tomoka slapped him did he regain his senses and got into a fight with Tomoka for slapping him.

* * *

"Ryoma-chan, you're here!" Marui said and took out a chewing gum before chewing on it.

"Let's eat." Yukimura said with an arm around Ryoma's shoulder. Yukimura did not know why but he felt kind of jealous when others get near Ryoma, he also felt like being with Ryoma all the time, that's why he invited him to join them. Ryoma was rather oblivious to the attention given and took his bento out, sitting next to his captain.

He didn't know why but when he sat next to Seiichi-buchou, no one comes and disturbs him. He also felt safe when he was with him. Not knowing that the others were surprised at where he chose to seat, he started eating without saying a word. Yukimura gave him an amused glance before starting to eat too. Throughout the lunch Niou and Marui kept making noise and the quieter ones started their own private conversations.

Yukimura looked at his tennis family before asking Ryoma, "What did your parents say about this trip?" Turning away from his lunch, Ryoma stared at Yukimura before saying, "Oka-san said that I should take care of myself and what the old man says doesn't matter."

Laughing at his comment, Yukimura was about to comment when the bell rang. "See you at tennis practice then." Nodding slightly, he was about to walk away when the rest of the regulars except Sanada came up to him and asked, "Aren't you scared of Yukimura-buchou?"

Looking at them with emotionless eyes, he said, "Sometimes, fear is greater than danger itself. I think this is one of those cases." After saying that, he walked away.

"I don't think he knows he is the only one who thinks like that." Niou said running a hand through his hair. The others couldn't help but agree that they had an amazing freshman in their team, a regular nonetheless.

* * *

Well, since I am coping with my studies better than I expected, I uploaded another chapter.

_Life beyond wishes_


	8. Examinations

NOTE: The description I give later on might not be very good as I am not that good at descriptive writing. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and I was thinking of pairing Marui with Jiroh. Do you think it is a good idea? Please tell me what you think.

* * *

"Atobe received a letter that said that those who did not pass their examinations with a minimum score of 65 will have to go to summer classes and skip the tennis camp."

After Ryuuzaki-sensei announced this, majority of the regulars that was not very good at the academic results groaned. Kikumaru began to panic, "I only score 65 marks and above for only 6 out of 9 subjects. I almost failed English too. What should I do, I don't want to skip the camp!"

Oishi was desperately trying to calm Kikumaru down but was not really successful.

"Ryoma-chan, how did you do for your examinations?" Marui asked.

Horio and Kachiro overheard them and answered for Ryoma, "You don't have to worry about Ryoma; he is the top student in our level and scored full marks for his English exams."

Somehow, all of the regulars heard this and looked shocked, even Sanada and Tezuka. "I have a composition written by him here, do you want to read it?" Kachiro said taking a piece of paper out of his bag. He passed it to Yukimura-buchou and shiver when he found Ryoma glaring at him.

"This is really wonderfully written; I will read out the first paragraph. The theme is 'A wonderful place to be.' The wood was a beautiful place to be. Sunlight slipped through the leaves and twinkled on the ground below. A light breeze played with the flowers and grasses, causing them to sway gently from side to side. A couple of birds were perching on a branch chirping to a happy tune." Yukimura read out loud.

The regulars were amazed as they managed to picture the image in their head. Marui breathed out a 'wow' and Ryuuzaki-sensei gave a small smile. She knew that the boy must have taken after his mother as Nanjiroh is a lazy but talented tennis player who did not care for his exams or grades.

"Everyone listen up! If you really want to attend the camp, you have to work extremely hard if you are not scoring above expectations. The results for the exams will be revealed next week, the week after the exams. Tennis practice will only continue after the exams are over, do you get me?"

Kikumaru and Gakuto, determined to get good results, gave a loud 'yes' while the others groaned at the prospect of missing practice. Ryoma, Tezuka and Yukimura were surrounded by the regulars after Ryuuzaki-sensei has left and everyone was pestering the three of them to tutor the rest of them before the exams. As Tezuka and Yukimura were always the top two in their level, their results were only different by a couple of marks. Atobe and Sanada were always either the third or the fourth.

Being the nice guy he is, Yukimura offered to tutor Marui and Niou at English and World History respectively. Atobe said while flipping his hair, "All Hyotei regulars, I cannot let you people fail to attend the camp and throw our reputation away. I will hire a tuition teacher for all of you each so you people better not fail."

"Marui-kun, I am good in all the three sciences! Do you want me to tutor you?" Jiroh said excitedly. He entered this school because he was a fan of Marui. However, to his disappointment, he got into Hyotei instead of Rikkaidai. He knew practically everything about Marui, from his tennis attacks to his academic results.

Slightly freaked out by the guy in front of him, Marui said slowly, "Well, Yagyuu could teach me so… I don't think I will bother you. Thanks for offering though." Jiroh only let his disappointment show for awhile before masking it up with a big smile. "Its okay, hope you do well in your exams." Jiroh said before turning away to follow the Hyotei regulars; who have walked away during the conversation.

"You have heard Ryuuzaki-sensei. There will be no practice for these two weeks. Everyone should study hard and get good grades." Sanada said in a no-nonsense voice. A loud 'yes' was heard and the regulars headed home to prepare for the exams, even Ryoma.

* * *

(On the day of the first exam: English)

"Ryoma-sama, I am so nervous. Aren't you?" Tomoka was blabbering about the exams and how much her heart was beating since Ryoma entered the class. One good thing Ryoma learnt when he entered the class was how to tune loud-people out, people like Horio and Tomoka. Before coming to Japan, he never knew such noisy people existed.

"The exam will be starting, please get back to your own seat." Their form teacher walked in and exclaimed. Everyone scrambled back to their respective places and waited for their next instruction.

Soon, the exam papers were given out and everyone was trying their best at answering every question. Within the next 40 minutes, Ryoma completed the multiple choices, the close passages and the comprehension. He then completed the composition and after double-checking the answer, rested his head on the table. There was about 40 minutes more and everyone including the teacher looked at him in disbelief. Even if he was brought up in America, to complete the exam that was one hour and forty-five minutes long in 1 hour and 5 minutes was unbelievable.

Forty minutes have passed and when the teacher took a peek at what Ryoma wrote, she couldn't help but think although he spends a lot of time in tennis, he did not neglect his studies. Smiling happily at the thought of someone acing English in her home class, the teacher continued to collect all the other papers.

* * *

For the rest of the exams, Ryoma completed the papers before the time given. The teachers were marking the papers for the exams and everyone was relieved that the exams are over. Soon the time for them to take their results came. The results were pasted on the bulletin board for everyone to see. For the first years, Ryoma's results shocked everyone; he was the first in the level and had score full marks.

For the second years, Ohtori got first and Yuuta was the second, causing his elder brother to give him a hug that made his face redder than a tomato.

The third years were not very surprised when Yukimura topped their level with Tezuka losing him by one mark. Atobe won Sanada and got third.

Somehow, all the regulars managed to meet the qualifications and they were cheering and smacking each other on the back. Momoshiro, forgetting his strength, gave Ryoma a smack on the back, causing him to knock into Yukimura-buchou, both landing on the ground. 'Haven't this happened before?' Both of them thought, face coloring red at the awkward position.

Atobe saw this and gave a devilish smirk; it looks like the Rikkaidai captain has a crush on his prodigy freshman. 'I wonder what will happen if…'

* * *

That's chapter eight.

Hope this chapter did not disappoint you all.

To the reviewers: Thanks for reviewing, your reviews make my day.

I completed my school work so I uploaded another chapter.

Well, because our school will be reopening, I will be part of the group that walks with the V.I.P.s. And because of that, we have to practice more. Therefore, I will not be updating very often. I will be writing whenever I have spare time so…SORRY for the slow update in advance.

_Life beyond wishes_


	9. Trip

NOTE: I thought that the previous chapter wasn't very good so I made another chapter.

* * *

"Where's Ryoma-kun? He's late. They might leave without him." Oishi said worriedly.

Over time, they all treated Ryoma like a cute little brother and all the regulars of the three teams were much closer. 'Without him, it would not be possible.' Oishi thought.

"There he is!" Kawamura shouted. Indeed, Ryoma was sitting on the back of a bicycle; in front of him was a monk with sunglasses. "Who's that monk?" Niou said putting an arm around Yagyuu.

Pushing his glasses up, Yagyuu replied, "Echizen-kun did say that his father is a 'perverted monk'."

Ryoma had got off the bicycle and was walking towards them with his bags; with his father in tow. "Ryoma-chan, is that your father?" Unwillingly, Ryoma nodded his head, recalling what had happened in the morning.

_Flashback_

"_Ryoma-chan, you are going to the tennis camp right?" Nanjiroh said inching closer to Ryoma._

"_What about it?" Ryoma looked at his father, wondering what he was up to. "I'll bring you there."_

_Before Nanjiroh could continue talking, Ryoma cut him off with a firm 'NO'. Giving a smug smirk, the elder echizen said, "HAH. You don't have a choice in this matter. It's either that I'm fetching you there or you are not going. You can choose which you prefer."_

_Glaring at his father, Ryoma agreed to travel there with him on the bicycle. Giving a shriek, Nanjiroh gave Ryoma a big hug, causing Ryoma to struggle franticly. What Ryoma didn't know was that his father wanted to see how the people around him are and whether they have any bad intention. 'If they try anything on him, I'll make them pay.' Nanjiroh thought as he hugged Ryoma even tighter._

_Flashback ends_

"I see. Hello Nanjiroh-san, nice to meet you. I am Rikkaidai's captain. I'm afraid we have to leave now but we will take good care of Ryoma-chan." Nanjiroh's sharp ears heard clearly that his precious son was called by his first name and with an honorific too. 'Did the brat beat him for adding a 'chan' in his name?'

"Ah, I see. I'll be leaving then, take care of the brat." Nanjiroh said before casting Yukimura a glance, there was something about this boy that does not seem right to him. His parental instincts are screaming that something will happen between him and his son. Ignoring that feeling, he got on his bicycle and started pedaling home.

"He's finally gone." Ryoma gave a sigh of relief. "Ryoma-chan, let's get on the bus." Yukimura said while gently pushing the boy. He did not know why but it seems like Ryoma's father did not really like him.

When everyone was going to board the bus, Atobe said, "I have prepared the sleeping arrangements for tonight. Niou & Yagyuu, Marui & Jackal, Yanagi & Sanada, Kirihara & Kabaji, the Fuji brothers, Ohtori & Shishido, Hiyoshi & Tezuka, Oshitari & Gakuto, Jiroh & Kawamura, Saeki & Momoshiro, Kaidoh & Inui, Kikumaru & Oishi, Yukimura & Ryoma will be sharing rooms. And I of course will get my own room."

Everyone was surprised; Yukimura was not placed with Sanada and instead, was placed with the prodigy freshman. Kirihara groaned, he was taken away from a quiet person but was again placed with a quiet person. Yukimura smiled gratefully at Atobe, he wanted to be placed together with Ryoma as he wanted to know the freshman better. "Everyone is to seat with their assigned partner. If you don't want to, you don't have to board the coach." After saying that, Atobe went up the bus.

Sighing in resignation, all the players started to board the bus. When Ryoma entered the bus, he sat in the seventh row and prepared to sleep. Yukimura took out a thick book and began reading. Throughout the trip, Yukimura would glance at Ryoma and glared at whoever who dare to wake him up. During the trip, Ryoma unknowingly tilted his head to the side and his head was resting on Yukimura's shoulder. Yukimura looked at him in surprise and smiled a real smile. Slowly running his hand through Ryoma's silky soft green hair, Yukimura placed a kiss on Ryoma's forehead before continuing his reading.

Lucky for them, no one saw this action except for Atobe, who was happy that he was right about Yukimura's feelings. Yukimura was always been hard to read, like the elder Fuji. They both are very protective of the people and things they care for and enjoy seeing those that try to bully them suffer.

Deciding to take a rest, Yukimura kept his book and took a nap. Soon, both of them were both deep in sleep.

* * *

Please review.

_Life beyond wishes_


	10. First day of camp

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

NOTE: Sorry for the slow update and the short chapters. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"Ryoma-chan, we have arrived around fifteen minutes ago. You have to wake up." Yukimura said shaking him gently.

Slowly awaking from his slumber, Ryoma blinked sleepily at the regulars, trying to make out who the blur figures in front of were. Finally awake, he processed what Yukimura said before apologising and heading out of the bus, holding his bags and tennis rackets. Looking at the place he was going to stay in for a week, he hoped he did not get lost in the gigantic mansion in front of him. As his sense of direction was not very good, he decided that he would follow Yukimura the whole of the seven days.

"We will be staying in the room on the left of the staircase, which is beside Atobe's room. That is the room I always use when I stay over at Atobe's house. If you lose your way, you can follow Atobe or ask any maid where room number twenty-four is. I will also advise you that if your sense of direction is not very good, do not try wandering around the mansion. There are more than fifty rooms in this mansion and you might get lost." Yukimura explained.

As the three captains were good friends and stayed near to each other, they often visited the other's house to play or study. Despite this summer house being the smallest one that Atobe has, it was situated on a hill and was built with tennis courts, gyms, swimming pools and other recreational activities.

* * *

"Everyone listen up. We came here to practice for the tournaments and not to play. Training begins tomorrow at five in the morning. The three things we will be training are speed, endurance and skill. Anyone late to practice tomorrow will be punished, so will their roommates. Therefore, to not get punished, the partners should remind each other to wake up on time and be punctual. As some of the rooms have not changed the beds from singles to doubles, you will have to share the bed. Since you are all males, sharing a bed should not be a problem. If there is a very violent objections as to who is sharing a bed with whom, you can tell the maids, they will help you change the beds. You are allowed to roam around but if you get lost, just ask for directions. You are dismissed."

Atobe said before dismissing all the members. All the tennis regulars went back to their own rooms to unpack their bags and to see whether they got two beds or a queen-sized bed.

* * *

Once they reached their room, Ryoma opened the door and looked inside. They were one of the pairs that had to share a queen sized bed. Not really caring, Ryoma held the door so that Yukimura could enter. After Yukimura entered the room, Ryoma dragged his bags into the room and closed the door, which locked automatically for the privacy of the people staying inside.

"Seiichi-buchou, if I cannot wake up tomorrow, would you mind waking me up?" Ryoma knew that the chances of him being able to wake up are very low and as he did not want to get punished, he had to ask a favour from his captain.

Giving a nod as his answer, Yukimura assured Ryoma that he would not leave without him. "Besides, if you are late, I will get punished too." He added. Thanking Yukimura, Ryoma took a set of casual wear and headed towards the toilet to change. Although they were both boys, somehow, he did not like showing his body to others as they always commented about him being very skinny and having a small build.

Meanwhile, Yukimura was planning where to go. He knew this place quite well and was not sure where he should go first. Deciding to ask Ryoma whether he would like to take a walk around Atobe's house after he comes out of the toilet, he sat on the bed and waited for him to come out.

Yukimura looked at the bed and wonder how they should sleep that night. Ryoma was quite small in size and he was not very big either. But somehow, the thought of two people sharing a bed made the bed feel very small. Giving a barely audible sigh, Yukimura ran a hand through his hair and let his ever-present smile drop for awhile. He did not know why but being around the prodigy freshman made him slightly unable to control his emotion. It made him feel something he had never felt before, making him slightly worried about whether he was falling in love with Ryoma. Yukimura's eyebrow twitched, this camp would not be very boring, something was going to happen and he knew it.

* * *

At the same time, Nanjiroh could help but think that something was going on. Seeing his precious son on first name basis with a man was making him feel like chaining them up until they tell him what was going on. Sitting cross-legged for awhile longer, he finally jumped up and said "Rinko, I am going out for a few days! I will be finding someone." Taking his bicycle, Nanjiroh hopped on the bicycle and pedalled away. He couldn't help but worry about his son; after all, his son was even prettier than a normal girl.

'This is going to be a long trip.' Nanjiroh thought as he continued pedalling, 'all I have on me is a bus card, some magazines and a couple of hundred yens.'

* * *

Ryoma and Yukimura walked to the entrance of the summer house, after Ryoma had agreed to walk with Yukimura for awhile, they decided to visit the beach near the house. To reach the beach, they had to go through a shortcut Yukimura and Atobe discovered during their stay. Within fifteen minutes, they had reached the beach and were waiting for the sunset while walking around the beach. As the sun set, the few thin strips of clouds on the horizon turned shimmering gold. Yukimura and Ryoma stopped their footsteps to admire nature's beauty.

"The sunset was glorious, wasn't it?" Yukimura said to the person beside him, getting a soft 'hmm' for a reply. "Seiichi-buchou, we should be heading back. It will be raining soon." Ryoma said staring at the sky. Hearing what Ryoma said, Yukimura nodded before turning back to where they came from. Halfway back to the summer house, a cloud, ominous and black, drifted over the hills and released a sudden shower. By the time they reached the house, they were fully drenched from head to toe.

The worried regulars, especially Oishi, rushed them to their room to get a change of clothes before bringing them to the sick bay. As Ryoma had a slight fever, he was excused from practice the next day and was ordered to have a good rest.

Ryoma looked out the window, a flash of forked lightning and a great clap of thunder came close upon each other. The wind was sighing and thrashing in the tree tops and the boughs moaned. He had the urged to ask a regular to accompany him, but his pride would not allow him to. Deciding to return to his room, he got off the bed and walked slowly to his room.

Somehow, he managed to locate his room and entered it using his keys. Yukimura was preparing to sleep when Ryoma entered the room. Concealing his surprise, Yukimura went over and helped Ryoma. When they were about to reach the bed, a bolt of lightning tore across the sky and a peal of lightning followed. This time, Yukimura was unable to hide his shock when Ryoma jumped on him causing them to fall on the bed. The look in his eyes softened when he saw Ryoma's frightened expression. Putting one hand around Ryoma's waist and the other holding the blanket, he covered the blanket over the both of them.

Taking a walkman out of his bag, he placed it over Ryoma's ears and on a song. Slowly, Ryoma began to fall asleep in Yukimura's arms and soon, Yukimura was also asleep.

* * *

"Yukimura-buchou, Echizen is excused but not you! You have to wake up!"

Luckily, the door was locked and they could not see what was inside. Ryoma had this bad habit of snuggling up to anyone that shares a bed with him. Yukimura had his hands wrapped around Ryoma's waist in a death grip, and his legs were tangled with Ryoma's. Ryoma was lying within Yukimura's embrace and was still snuggling into him like a cat. They were in a very compromising position and if others were to see it, they would definitely misunderstand. Slowly stirring from the noise the people outside were making, Yukimura tried to get up only to see himself tangled up with Ryoma. Flushing red, he untangled himself and within a few minutes, got himself ready and headed out of the room; not before throwing the sleeping Ryoma a glance.

"Sorry for making you wait. Let's go."

Normally, Yagyuu would not really involve himself in his captain's business. However, he could help but wonder why his captain who was never late could oversleep. 'Did he stay up all night to take care of Echizen? Why is he so worried about him?' Yagyuu didn't really say anything but he could tell that his captain was quite attached to the freshman prodigy. Something about that boy attracted Yukimura's attention. 'To be the centre of Yukimura's or the elder Fuji's attention, many people would long to be in their place. However, those who know of their wraths would sympathise the person, Ryoma in this case, as they are very protective and will take pleasure in seeing others suffer. If what I think is correct, I sympathise Echizen greatly.'

"Yagyuu, what are you doing standing over there! You can visit Echizen later!" Sanada's voice broke Yagyuu's train of thoughts. Quickly catching up with them, he decided not think about it anymore.

* * *

"This is the place. So this is where Ryoma is."

Nanjiroh said standing at the foot of the hill. He was cycling when it started pouring. A nice young man gave him a ride and dropped him off in front of the house. On the way to his destination, Nanjiroh picked up a flyer and managed to get a job at the summer house of a couple of days. The coach in charge of the tennis courts was taking a couple days of leave as he had family business to attend. His job required him to take the regulars to the court and make them do their warm-up and also to assign the players their blocks. The salary he was able to earn was not much to him as although he had no jobs, he was just about as rich as Atobe with the money he earned when he was a professional player.

"Now to go in and visit Ryoma." Nanjiroh hummed a tune and started walking up the hill.

* * *

"The coach will be here later so for now, you people can do some stretching." Atobe told the regulars. The coach has not arrived and until he arrives, they had nothing to do. 'If he isn't here in ten minutes, I will make them play matches among themselves and the captains will take one third of the regulars each.' Glancing at his watch, Atobe started stretching too.

"Hello! I am your coach for today until Wednesday. You can call me coach or Nanjiroh-san! It is nice to meet you all!" Nanjiroh said popping out of nowhere, scaring some of the regulars. Giving a sigh of relief, Atobe introduced himself and so did the regulars.

"You are Echizen Ryoma's father aren't you? I was a fan of yours since I was five!" Kirihara said voice filled with admiration. Momoshiro and a few other regulars also confessed that they were fans of his. Nanjiroh was about to reply when a ball came flying to his head, his quick reflexes saved him from an aching head. Turning around, preparing to shout at the person, he saw Ryoma glaring at him. Anger forgotten, he scratched his head before greeting him. "What are you doing here, you old man?" Ryoma grounded out, anger radiating off him.

Thinking of a feeble excuse, he shuffled his feet and started moving backwards. An angry Ryoma was not nice to mess with. Before Ryoma could do anything drastic to his father, Yukimura stepped out and said to Ryoma, "Your father being here is not very bad right? After all, with his experience, he could teach us a lot of things."

Listening to Yukimura's reasoning, Ryoma sighed and backed down. His captain was someone that he respected a lot and thus what he said was very important and mostly right. Everyone, including Ryoma's father, was shocked that Ryoma let his father off just because Yukimura told him to do so.

"Well, let's get started already. Time waits for no man." Despite Nanjiroh being an easy-going person, he was very strict when it comes to teaching tennis. Soon, all the members except Kaidoh, Yukimura, Atobe, Ryoma and Tezuka were panting and sweating profusely. By the end of the day, the regulars had to drag themselves all the way up to their rooms. After washing up and changing out of their tennis outfits, all the regulars were fast asleep before eight pm.

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This is the end of chapter 10. Do you think I should update a short chapter once in a few days or a slightly longer one in a couple of weeks?

Please review.

_Life beyond wishes._


	11. Surprise party

Although there are more than 300 hits to the previous chapter, only 3 people reviewed. It is rather disheartening. If you don't mind, please leave a message or opinion of this story. If you do that, I would be very grateful.

NOTE: This chapter is written so that you will know what happen during the holiday. It does not have a lot o romance in it. Hope you enjoy it though.

* * *

"To reward your hard work, I have asked the chefs to prepare some delicious food for you. I would cook for you myself but you people are at the risk of getting food poisoning." Motioning for the food to be served, Nanjiroh watched as the regulars' face turned into one of utter delight.

The regulars looked at the captains and waited eagerly for them to start eating as only after they have started could they start eating. The captains, as if knowing what the others were thinking, took a mouth of the food specially prepared for them. The food was so delicious that they could not stop eating. Seeing them tuck into their food, Nanjiroh smiled before clearing his throat, "Um, I have something to say." Immediately, everybody looked at him.

"I will be leaving tomorrow. As Atobe and I think that you people have done quite well, the remaining two days will be free for your own leisure. You people can do anything you want. This is it, you can continue eating." Everyone exchanged looks, despite being a strict coach; Nanjiroh-san taught them many things about tennis. They would do something for him before he leave.

* * *

After eating, everyone went to the main hall. Echizen was dragged there as he did not want to attend. "What do you think we can get Nanjiroh-san?" Oishi asked. Nobody replied; nobody knew what he liked and the only one who knew was not willing to speak.

"Echizen-kun, what kind of flowers does your father like?" Yagyuu asked. Ryoma snorted and pulled his hat down, giving a soft 'che' before saying, and "Flowers for someone like him? How about the Rafflesia?"

"… Echizen, please give us answers that will help and don't be so sarcastic. That is not the right attitude to adopt." Oshitari chided. Giving a soft 'hai', Ryoma apologized before saying, "He likes his picture magazines. And tennis. He also likes big parties."

Glad that he contributed, Oishi thanked Ryoma before asking Atobe whether they could hold a party. After Atobe agreed, the captains said that they would arrange everything and inform them. All they had to do was to prepare an act with the person they were sharing a room with. If they wanted to, they could joined combine groups and perform together. They were then dismissed and left to think of their performance.

"Ryoma-kun, can we discuss the performance later? I have to discuss something with Atobe and Tezuka." Nodding his head, Ryoma turned and headed back to his room.

* * *

Everyone had prepared their performance. Nobody told Nanjiroh about the party as it was supposed to be a surprise. The plan was like this, Ryoma would lead his father to the main hall where everyone was and when they enter, everyone, including Ryoma, would shout 'surprise'. Like a typical party. Only that Atobe was the one organising it, which means that the party was filled with expensive things and food.

"Ne, Ryoma, why are you suddenly so nice. Normally you would request that I walk one arms length away from you. Is it because you miss me?" Nanjiroh teased Ryoma, who was on the verge of snapping. Nanjiroh knew something was up, normally, if he teased Ryoma, he would get glared at and his precious magazine would be in shreds within seconds. Although his magazines were not here, Ryoma would definitely not walk away and tolerate his taunting. Ryoma, on the other hand, was about to snap. His moronic father was being the idiot he always was and his patience was running thin. Quickening his footsteps, he felt relief that he would not have to tolerate him anymore. Why was he chosen for this job anyway?

The moment Nanjiroh came near the door, Ryoma pushed him in and was surrounded by the regulars. Although he expected it, he was still surprised when kikumaru jumped on him. He was rather touched that the kids would do this for him. "This is only the start." Atobe said.

One by one the regulars performed for Nanjiroh. Kikumaru and Oishi combined with Momoshiro and Saeki to perform a dance. Fuji and Yuuta did magic tricks while the rest of them excluding Ryoma and the captains performed a short play. The captains and Ryoma sang a song which shocked everyone and presented all the regulars' gifts to Nanjiroh, who was almost moved to tears. Nanjiroh went round hugging people causing everyone to run away. The day was soon over and Atobe told his driver to send the elder Echizen back. The elder Echizen promised to visit their school and said when Ryoma was not there, "Please take care of that brat, his attitude might offend someone."

After Nanjiroh has gone off, the rest of them went back and planned what to do the next day. Only one day was left and they had to make use of the time well.

* * *

Sorry, I know this chapter is not very good but I don't really have time.

Please review. To those who reviewed, thanks for reviewing.

_Life beyond wishes_


	12. The outing

* * *

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

Note: Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.

* * *

"Ryoma-kun, do you want to explore this place with us?"

Ryoma turned around and saw Marui waving enthusiastically at him. Giving out a sigh, Ryoma shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking towards them. He was planning to walk around by himself but with his seniors… An evil smirk adorned his face. If he had his way, he would be able to get the seniors to treat him to either two burgers or some ponta each.

Just before he could reached the group, a hand shot out and grabbed him, pulling him against a firm chest. Slightly surprised, Ryoma looked up and saw his team captain smiling down at him. Nudging Ryoma gently, Yukimura motioned for him to start walking. Stopping right in front of the regulars, Yukimura said, smiling, "Good morning, you are all up early. Ryoma-kun and I will be walking around together, would you like to join us?"

They were about to reply when a dark aura started radiating off Yukimura, daring them to accept his offer. Not wanting to be the target of Yukimura's wrath, the regulars stuttered out some feeble excuse and dragged along their friends and partners. Soon, there were only Yukimura and Ryoma left. "Ah, they all left, shall we go then?"Yukimura stretched out his right hand and grasped Ryoma's within it. "Seiichi-buchou, since when did we have an appointment?" Ryoma inquired. "You won't mind going out with me right?" Yukimura said smiling at Ryoma, who merely shrugged. Yukimura did not know why but when he sees someone about to have any form of physical contact with Ryoma, he feels like intervening and taking Ryoma away. 'Maybe I do like him.' Yukimura thought.

Although Ryoma was slightly disappointed that he would not be able to get his seniors to buy him burgers, spending time with his captain was not all that bad. Besides, Yukimura was quite good at tennis, maybe he could convince him to play a couple of matches against him. Ryoma believed that Yukimura would play with him seriously unlike his perverted father. Not really caring that they were holding hands, Ryoma just continued walking.

"So where are we going, Seiichi-buchou?" Ryoma asked. He did not know this place well and he did not want to get lost. "You'll see." Yukimura said smiling.

* * *

"What! He asked you to stop the car and let him alight and you let him!" Atobe was very curious, why would Echizen Nanjiroh ask the driver to let him off? Unless he was worried about his son's safety … Atobe sighed. 'That over-protective old man, I better call Yukimura and Tezuka' quickly messaging the two captains, he told them to watch out for the elder Echizen and contact him immediately if said man was found.

* * *

After reading the message Atobe sent, Yukimura chuckled amusedly, causing Ryoma to stared at him weirdly. They had reached their destination: a beach with a small boat near it. Looking at the place in disbelief, Ryoma was about to talk when Yukimura said, "We will be travelling on the boat to another small island owned by my family."

Just as he finished saying that sentence, a man came up to them and motioned for them to get on the boat. After they got onto the boat, the man started to row them over. Ryoma looked over to the island owned by Yukimura's family. It was not very big but was not very small either. There was a lot of greenery and a mansion could be seen from where they were. Ryoma was wondering why he was brought to this place. Yukimura, as though he knew what he was thinking, smiled mysteriously and glanced backwards.

A small figure in a monk outfit was jumping up and down in a temper tantrum, seeing his targets going to a place where he couldn't reach. Yukimura had known that Nanjiroh was following them since the  
beginning. Ryoma, though very sharp in a tennis match, was not very observant when it came to people. He did not notice his father stalking him and throwing suspicious glares at Yukimura.

* * *

Nanjiroh was fuming with anger. He had expected that something would happen after he left so he had followed them. He knew that it was not likely that Ryoma would notice him but his captain somehow spotted him and went to a place he could not follow his son. That captain was one sharp guy…

* * *

"I wanted to walk around with Ryoma-kun."

Marui was complaining to a very irritated Jackal, who was about to snap. They all wanted to hang out with Ryoma but were afraid of incurring the wrath of Yukimura. "Why does Yukimura get so...possessive around Ryoma? He wasn't like this in the past." Jackal was curious, very curious. What have happened to their captain? It couldn't be… right? "Ne, Marui, is it possible, I mean, for the captain to fall for Echizen?"

Marui was silent, he had not thought of that. Could it be that their captain has really fallen for their cute little freshman? It was quiet for awhile before Marui exclaimed, "If he is, let's give them our blessings! After all, they look cute together, don't they?"

Jackal gave a barely visible smile before nodding. "You two, hurry up!" Running slightly to catch up with the gang, the two of them knew that if their captain ever needed help, they would definitely lend a hand.

* * *

Sorry that it is rather short but I have to rush this out. I wrote it in class and typed it out at home.

As for the rate of updating, I am afraid that I won't be able to update very often for the next few weeks due to the common tests and a current affair competition.

After deciding, I will post the day I will update on my profile. At least 5 days before the new chapter is posted.

Please do me a favour and leave a review. Thank you.


	13. Surprise meeting

NOTE: As much as I want to write a longer chapter, due to time constraint, I can't. Therefore, I apologise in advance for the short chapter.

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

* * *

"We are here."

Yukimura helped Ryoma out of the boat. Both of them were stretching their legs as they have been sitting there for half an hour. Ryoma looked up, from afar, the island looked very small but from here, it looked gigantic. "Let's walk around. We should be able to reach the summer house in about fifteen minutes."

Nodding his head, Ryoma followed Yukimura as they slowly strolled to the house. On the boat, Ryoma made Yukimura promise to play at least two tennis matches with him in the indoor tennis court located at the basement of mansion.

In the island, trees could be spotted everywhere they went. A stone pathway was built to lead the visitors to the mansion. It was so quiet on the journey to the mansion that Yukimura could not take it anymore. Clearing his throat, he decided to start a small conversation. "So how do you find this island, Ryoma-kun? This island was given to me by the Atobe's during my birthday."

Ryoma looked at Yukimura weirdly; do all rich people give weird things for birthday presents? Finding that ignoring his captain would be rude, he gave a soft 'hmm' before everything was quiet again. Yukimura twitched slightly, he was trying to make things less awkward but Ryoma was not helping. He was about to say something more when a huge gust of wind blew Ryoma's cap away. Alarmed, Ryoma began to chase after it, but whenever it feels like he was able to grab his cap, the wind would get stronger and his cap would fly even further. After quite a long while, they finally managed to get his hat back. After thanking Yukimura for getting his hat back for him, they continued to walk towards the summer house.

When they finally reached the house, they saw a jet parked at the landing area. Both Yukimura and Ryoma looked surprised, they did not know that there would be others present. Deciding to check it out, they went in by the front door. "I'm here, Mariya-san." Yukimura said addressing the in-charge of the house. The in-charge looked at him in surprise and gasped. Yukimura stared puzzled at why she was so shock at his arrival, he had called two weeks before to inform them that he was coming along with a guest so they must have known that he was coming.

"Seiichi-sama, your parents is here with your sister and they have been waiting for your arrival." Ryoma stared at Yukimura shocked, but Yukimura just stared back at him, also shocked by the turn of events. "I don't know what is going on but I did not plan this. Let's just see how it goes." Ryoma nodded as Mariya lead them to the meeting room. As soon as Ryoma met Yukimura's family, recognition lit up in Yukimura's sister's eyes and she jumped on Ryoma.

"It's you! I thought I would never see you again!" Everyone, including Ryoma, stared at her like she had gone crazy. "Do you know her?" Yukimura questioned the slightly freaked out Ryoma as he pried his sister off him. Ryoma tried his best to recall but he can't seem to remember anything. "Eh? You have already forgotten me? Remember, you saved me from a bunch of hooligans in America? You won them all in tennis causing them to run away in fear."

Hearing that, Ryoma remembered a slightly younger version of the female in front of him being harassed by some people, who then split his ponta. Angered, he remembered challenging them to tennis matches each and winning them in love games. Seeing that he had finally remembered, Yukimura introduced his family to them. Throughout the whole conversation, Yukimura's father kept quiet.

"Since the four of us are all Yukimura's, you can call us by our first name, ne Echizen-kun?" Pulling down his cap and giving a firm 'hai', he stepped closer to Seiichi until their hands were touching. Finally, Yukimura's father spoke, "Echizen-san, would you mind taking a rest in one of our guest rooms first? We 

have something to tell Seiichi." After he spoke, the whole family keep quiet and the atmosphere became very tense. Deciding to listen to the instructions given, he followed Mariya after giving Seiichi a short glance.

"So, father, what do you have to tell me?"

Yukimura's instinct told him it would not be good. Clearing his throat, he said. "As the heir of the Yukimura family, it is a rule that you will have to get married by twenty one. Therefore, you will have to choose a bride by the age of sixteen. If you still do not have a marriage partner by three months, you will have to be with the girl we choose." Seiichi and his sister, who was not informed about the situation, were shocked. Seiichi recovered quickly and was about to retort when his father added, "If you don't accept, you will not get any of the Yukimura's fortune."

Yukimura felt insulted, does his father think that he could not survive without the help of his family. It would be hard but he was sure he could do it. Although he knew he could do it, he could not take care of his school fees yet. Reluctantly, he agreed to the conditions.

He excused himself and quickly headed for the room. He could see an unexpected storm heading their way. Remembering that Ryoma did not like thunders and lightning, he rushed to the room where Ryoma is currently at. By the time he reached the door, it was already raining heavily. The room seemed empty but if one looked carefully; a small figure can be seen hiding under the table. Temporary forgetting his problems, he approached Ryoma slowly and gathered him in his arms. Ryoma immediately snuggled into him and buried his head in Yukimura's chest. Yukimura gently stroked Ryoma's hair and slowly he drifted into slumber.

* * *

Yukimura's sister, Risa could not help but be curious why her brother would suddenly start running towards the room Ryoma's occupying. Slightly influence by her gay supporter friends, she could not help but find that they make a cute couple. She peeked from the door and saw the two of them in something like an embrace. Not able to resist the temptation, she took out her phone and took a couple of pictures. Giggling slightly, she went back to her room.

* * *

"No, it can't be raining. That means that Ryoma will not come back today and will be staying overnight." Nanjiroh mumbled to himself. He was under the shelter while thinking about a method on how to cross the deep water when it started pouring, leaving him stranded there for quite a while. Suddenly, Nanjiroh's phone vibrated and he quickly picked it up.

"Hello? Rinko-chan, it's you? Oh you se-" Rinko began shouting causing Nanjiroh to hold his phone at an arm's length away. Due to the orders from his wife, Nanjiroh had no choice but to go straight home. 'Ryoma should be alright…'

* * *

I know this is not very good but I will write a longer chapter next time.

Please review. To those who reviewed, thanks for reviewing.

_Life beyond wishes_


	14. The realisation

NOTE: Well, I thought the previous chapter was quite horrible so here's another.

* * *

"Sorry, I wanted to bring you around but some unexpected things happened."

Ryoma accepted the apology. Despite not being able to explore the area, he felt oddly contented. When he had woke up in Yukimura's arms again, he had a very warm feeling in his chest. Something Yukimura's parents said had made Yukimura quite troubled. He wanted to know what it is but it seems like the Rikkaidai captain does not plan on telling him.

"RYOMA-KUN, SEIICHI-ONIICHAN, do you need a ride back?" Yukimura looked up and saw his younger sister waving down at them. Smiling back at her, he accepted her offer and watched as the jet landed slowly.

After the both of them got into the jet and took a seat, the jet took off. "Keigo-kun said that your bags have been packed and sent to your respective homes. Ah, mother and will be staying with you under father's order." Ryoma had a feeling it had to do with what the family had discussed the day before. Yukimura nodded, his ever-present smile dropped for awhile before appearing again. If one did not observe carefully, they could not have seen it.

"The both of you woke up quite early this morning, there is a bed at the back, and if you want to, you two can take a rest. I will wake you up later." Yukimura's mother suggested. Yukimura glance at Ryoma and saw him hiding a yawn behind his hand. "We will accept your offer then. Come on, Ryoma-chan."

Pulling him to his feet, Yukimura helped a half-asleep Ryoma to the room. "If Echizen-chan is a girl, I will definitely get them engaged to each other. They look so cute together." The younger Yukimura couldn't help but agree.

* * *

"You can go to sleep; I'll wake you up later." Ryoma nodded and soon, he was fast sleep. Yukimura, on the other hand, was thinking while running his hand through Ryoma's silky hair. Looking down at Ryoma with adoration, he realise that although Ryoma has a child-like side to him, it only made him more attractive in Yukimura's eyes. Placing a kiss on his temple, Yukimura decided to not think too much and take a nap. Sliding in beside Ryoma, he smiled slightly when he felt Ryoma cuddling into him. Closing his eyes, he soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Echizen-chan, we have reached your house, you should wake up already!" Yukimura's mother was trying to shake Ryoma awake. After about fifteen minutes of shaking and calling, Ryoma finally began to stir. Blinking his eyes a couple of times, he stared cutely at Yukimura's mother, causing her to give a motherly smile. "We have reached your house, Echizen-chan. You should wake up already." She said gently. Ryoma nodded and got up, he looked around to find his captain to find him nowhere in sight.

Giggling slightly, Yukimura's mother said, "Your father dragged Seiichi off the moment he got off the jet and began questioning him on where did he bring his precious son. Your father is very interesting." Groaning slightly, he knew that his father would embarrass him but in front of his captain's mother? His father was going to be in deep trouble.

* * *

Inside the house where Nanjiroh was questioning Yukimura, he suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. Ignoring the ominous feeling that was coming over him, he continued to ask what happened the day before.

"Nanjiroh-san, like I have said about ten times, nothing happened. We were about to explore the place when some unexpected things happened."

Sighing slightly, Nanjiroh knew that he would not get anything more from the Rikkaidai captain. "Fine, but you must tell me where you are bringing Ryoma in advance, is that clear?" "Crystal clear, Nanjiroh-san."

Nanjiroh grunted, he remembered that when he came back, an angry Rinko was at the door to greet him. And then… Nanjiroh winced, who knew that Rinko-chan could hit so hard…

* * *

I hoped you like the chapter although it is rather short…

Anyway, please review. No one actually reviewed my previous chapter…

Well, I will soon post my next review date on my profile. I will try to make it as soon as possible.

_Life beyond wishes_


	15. Trip to the photo shop

I posted it earlier than I said I would, you people don't mind right? Actually, this chapter is dedicated to Yorokobi Hearts, she has just met the qualifications necessary to become a BETA reader so there should be less mistakes from the following chapters onwards.

NOTE: I apologize if there are more mistakes in this chapter than the previous few I have written. I am using my laptop and because of an error, it doesn't have a word checker. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Oh, and in my story, the photos are taken one every three minutes.

* * *

"The holidays are already gone. Only one more day before school starts. Is there any way to make this holiday last longer?"  
Marui groaned and leaned back in the chair in Ryoma's house. They had come over and found a sleepy Ryoma glaring at them. It has been a week since the tennis camp ended and school was about to start. "There is a way to make the holiday longer." Ryoma smirked. Sitting up straight, Marui glanced eagerly at him, wanting to know how to make the holiday longer. "How do you do that, Ryoma-chan?" "Simple, by spending time with Kirihara; a minute with him would seem  
like an hour. " It seemed like Ryoma still held a grudge against Kirihara, though it was not clear whether it was for screaming in his ear in the morning when they'd arrived or for snatching the seat beside Yukimura. Infuriated, Kirihara was about to retort when Yukimura sent him a warning glance. Shutting his mouth, Kirihara glared angrily at Ryoma and got a smirk in return. "How about we go out together? As a team!" Marui suggested, jumping up on his feet. Not having anything to do, the others agreed and they were soon out of the door.

* * *

"Seiichi-buchou, can you buy me a burger? I forgot to bring my wallet?" Ryoma looked at Yukimura with wide eyes, causing Yukimura to ruffle his hair and bring him inside to choose a burger. The rest of the regulars looked very amused while Kirihara pouted. He tried that once but got glared at by Sanada. But once Ryoma asked buchou immediately complied and Sanada didn't even glare at him! It just wasn't fair. A few minutes later, a happy Ryoma came out with Yukimura  
and was chewing on the biggest burger that could be found in the store.

"Is it delicious, Ryoma-chan?" Yukimura asked while keeping the change back into his wallet. Ryoma nodded and took another big bite out of the burger before offering it to Yukimura. Smiling amusedly, he politely rejected and patted Ryoma on the head. Marui grinned widely before saying, "I saw a lot of girls heading to a photo shop on the top floor. Do you want to check it out?" No one replied so Marui took the silence as a sign of approval and started to push Yagyuu and Niou towards the mall, gesturing for Jackal to do the same for Kirihara and Yanagi. Soon, everyone was heading towards the photo shop.

* * *

"This place is pink." Sanada stated while staring at Marui, who was just as horrified as the rest of the regulars. The photo shop they were at was pink and lacy... everything a guy hates. At least most guys. Anyway, every booth was decorated with white bunnnies and fluffy clouds. Clearing his throat nervously, Marui said, "Since we are here, why not take a few photos?"

Not wanting to ruin the day, Yukimura pushed the regulars into a relatively large booth and slipped a couple of coins into the coin slot. Asking every one to strike an interesting pose, the camera timer counted down from 3. Soon, their photo were taken. It was time to decorate. The regulars looked at each other. No one knew how to operate the machines there. Deciding to give it a try, Yukimura read the instructions and carefully added some words to the photos. Compared to those experienced teenage girls who use the machines every day, their photos paled in comparison. Despite it looking very plain, they were satisfied with their first attempt and proceeded in printing nine copies out.

"Let's go somewhere else. The bright pink is causing me to have a headache." Niou said, slinging an arm casually around Yagyuu, who simply nodded. Yanagi and Sanada headed for the enterance. "All of you can wait outside, we will be out in a jiffy." Pulling Yukimura and Ryoma by the arm, he dragged them into a photo booth and digged into his pockets, hopping to find some coins. Finding the coins, he shoved them into the hole and closed the curtains. Not knowing what to do,  
the two of them just stood there staring at the camera. "Yukimura-buchou, you have to bent down alittle, Ryoma-chan is a little short." After saying that, Marui knew he said the wrong thing as Ryoma glared at him angrily. Letting out a soft 'eep', he hid behind the curtains.

Seeing Yukimura bend down and smile at the camera, he decided to do something for the couple. When the timer counted '2', he pushed Ryoma towards Yukimura, causing his lips to be firmly planted onto Yukimura just when the camera flashed. Grinning widely at their shocked faces, he quickly went to print the picture and gave it to Yukimura, who recovered from the shock and was blushing slightly, looking away. "Here's your photo! I will be waiting outside with the rest." After saying that, he rushed out of the shop, hoping that Yukimura would not take revenge for what he did.

* * *

Inside the booth, two red-faced tennis players were facing each other. Yukimura was staring up at the ceiling while Ryoma was looking down at the floor. The silence was deafening and the both of them decided to break it. "I-" Yukimura looked down the same time Ryoma looked up, both meeting in an unexpectedly kiss. Their eyes widen as their lips met for the second time that day. Unknown to them, the camera flashed again, taking another photo of them kissing. Clearing his throat, Yukimura went out and collected the picture before giving one of each picture to him. Smiling gently at Ryoma, he ruffled his hair before saying, "Let's go out and meet them." Nodding his head, they went out together and was greeted by a nervous Marui. Deciding to let him go for once, Yukimura smiled a true smile and said "Let's go." Relieved, Marui went back to normal, "Ryoma-chan! Walk with me!" Pulling along both Ryoma and Jackal, he started to tell them what he wanted to eat for dinner. "Grilled fish would be nice! Grilled fish with miso soup!" Ryoma nodded in silent agreement.

* * *

I have to admit, this chapter came out slightly different from I expected. Anyway, I thought it was kind of weird but I hope you like it.  
Please review.  
To the people who reviewed my previous chapter, thank you very much for reviewing!  
_Life beyond wishes_


	16. Beginning of school

NOTE: This chapter will probably be quite short. Hope you like it anyway.

* * *

"Stop whining Marui, you are getting on my nerves." Niou growled out, clearly annoyed by the whining done by the red head. The both of them stayed near each other and once in awhile, they would walk to school together. This is one of the rare times they walk together and Niou already regretted it badly. The red head was not really very happy that school started and was complaining about everything he could think of. Teachers, students, how hard the chairs were, the holiday homework, they were enough to drive Niou insane. He was never going to walk together with Marui again. Knowing that his walking companion was pissed off with him, he decided to keep quiet for awhile. It was quiet for awhile before Marui spotted a sleepy Ryoma trying his best to stay awake. Despite having his eyes closed for the majority of the time, he managed to avoid all the lamp posts with ease.

Cheering up almost instantly, Marui bounced up to Ryoma and threw his arms around him. "Ryoma-chan, good morning!" The half –awake boy was shocked by the sudden weight added to him and struggled to prevent himself from falling. Not in the mood for the older sempai's antics, he growled out for the senior to get off him and shot him a death glare. Cowering slightly behind Niou, he greeted the irritated Ryoma and could not help but ruffle his hair when an adorable pout graced his face.

Smiling amusedly, Niou adjusted his bag and said, "Come on, if you don't want to be late we have to hurry up." Knowing that he was saying the truth, Ryoma sighed and pulled down his cap before walking in the direction of thee school with a not-so excited Marui and a slightly amuse Niou following behind.

* * *

"Ryoma-sama, we have good news for you! During the holidays, I managed to gather one hundred girls and created a fan club for you!" Ryoma stared at Tomoka like she had gone insane, how was having a fan club a good thing? His day was almost completely ruined by that news. Things couldn't get any worse, could they?

* * *

Ryoma rested his head on the table as the rest of the girls were gossiping. They were discussing about whether there will be a new student joining them. The teacher soon walked in with a student following behind her. "Class, please listen up, we have a new transfer student, her name is Tenzu Miyoshi. Would you like to introduce yourself, Miyoshi-san?"

Clearing her throat, Miyoshi introduced herself. She was slightly taller than Ryoma with a lot of wavy dark brown hair that swirled around her face and brushed the tops of her shoulders. Her features were delicate, her mouth naturally pouty, her eyes were the colour of melted chocolate. Though she wasn't movie-star gorgeous, she wasn't that bad either. "Hello, like the teacher have introduced, my name is Tenzu Miyoshi and it is nice to meet you."

"You can sit… next to Kachiro, behind Ryoma. Kachiro, Ryoma, please raise your hands." The teacher called out. Raising their hands, they waited until she walked over before putting their hands down. Just before she reached her table, Miyoshi stopped at Ryoma's table and stared at him. The boys in the class groaned, all the girls in the class were crazy over Ryoma, why can't he leave a couple of the girls for them? "I won't lose to you." Miyoshi muttered before walking to her desk. Ryoma heard what she said and did not know what she was talking about, was she trying to say she won't lose him in tennis?

* * *

After sitting back down at her assigned place, Miyoshi began to stare at Ryoma. Normally, a person would feel uncomfortable under the intense gaze of another on themselves but Ryoma did not seem to care. He just laid his head on the table and tried to concentrate on what the teacher was talking about. However, he could not help but fall asleep. Yesterday, he did not know why but he spent the entire night staring at the pictures Yukimura gave him. Although he did not know why, staring at that picture made his heart beat faster than usual. He always thought the captain was very nice and good at tennis but the other two captains were good at tennis too but they did not make him feel as happy as he was with Yukimura. That feeling was …weird. Not able to understand, he tossed and turned until it was about two in the morning before he managed to fall asleep.

All he wanted was to curl up in his warm and soft bed…

* * *

Miyoshi was staring at Ryoma as he laid his head on the table and fell fast asleep. This guy was supposed to be the regular Yukimura cared for the most. After all, he only brought the people he cared for to that island given by Atobe and his family. Eyeing him up and down, Miyoshi could not see what was so attractive about the guy in front of her, sure he was quite handsome in a feminine looking way and could play tennis quite well, but that was all right?

Miyoshi thought to herself, 'there is no way Seiichi-kun could be a gay, NO way."

* * *

Yukimura was pissed. No, pissed could not describe how he currently felt. He just got a call from his mother informing him that one of the potential wives would be attending his school and placed in Ryoma's class. She was Tenzu Miyoshi, adored by his mother and they were childhood friends. He always knew that she liked him but he did not like her so he tried to avoid her. But now he could not. He has decided that until she was gone, he would fetch Ryoma for lunch every day. He could not risk letting Ryoma know that he was engaged. That would ruin everything.

Sanada glanced at Yukimura; the boy seemed to have lost his control over his emotion. He was clenching and unclenching his fist. Not only that, he was tapping his foot on the ground staring out window. Sanada was not a data expert like Inui or Yanagi, but he could tell that something was wrong with Yukimura. He was not very good at showing his concern openly, but he hoped that his friend would be alright.

* * *

I know this chapter short. This is just to introduce Miyoshi Tenzu.

And for the previous chapter, only one person reviewed. It is kind of depressing, isn't it? Please drop a review, a short one would do. It would be nice to receive reviews...


	17. From me to you

NOTE: Here's the next chapter, hope you like it. Karupin would appear for the first time.

DISCLAIMER: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

* * *

Ryoma sighed again. His golden eyes that were usually emotionless were filled with confusion. He just could not stop thinking about his captain and the kiss they shared. 'I am NOT a gay.' Shaking his head, he walked to his closet and took out his violin. Adjusting the violin to the correct position, Ryoma begin to play a piece.

Downstairs, Nanjiroh and his wife who were watching the television and washing the dishes respectively looked up when they heard the violin playing. Rinko looked worried for awhile before saying, "It has been so long since he had lifted his violin. And he only does that when he is confused or annoyed. I wonder what happened."

Nanjiroh frowned, his dear wife was right, Ryoma only played the violin when necessary or when he was confused. And for his age, it could not be his job nor could it be his studies, since he was the top in every possible subject. There was only one possibility left, but with Ryoma's attitude towards girls, how could it be about relationships and romance?

Nanjiroh did not know how right he was.

* * *

Yukimura and Yagyuu were hanging out around the streets when Yagyuu commented. "Echizen-kun has been spacing out more often. His tennis moves are getting sloppier and he tends to miss balls he can usually hit. He seems very distracted." Yukimura stared at Yagyuu; he was right, Ryoma was spacing out more than usual and he was talking even lesser and lesser. He never really thought much of it as he was only concerned about his own problems. Thinking about it, Yukimura felt a little guilty for paying so little attention on his junior. 'I think you are right. But do you know why?'

Yagyuu paused for a moment. He had no idea about that since he was not like Yanagi or Inui from Seigaku that can tell a person's problem just by referring to their data. 'As for that, it is better to consult Yanagi, he should know." Nodding his head, Yukimura wondered about what he could do to make Ryoma more like he used to be.

'Yukimura, would you mind accompanying me to the pet shop? My younger sister asked me to help her buy some cat food.' Yagyuu asked. Yukimura did not mind, so they were soon on their way to the shop.

They entered the shop and Yagyuu headed for the food section, leaving Yukimura to wander around. He was walking around until a particular cat caught his eye. Its fur was brown and white and its crystal blue eyes stared at him. "Do you like him? He is a Himalayan breed. Pets accompany their owners through their toughest time, the best friend a human can have. Of course when we say this, we don't include human beings." The sales clerk continued, "Pets are good for those who like to be by themselves."

Digesting what the clerk has just said Yukimura thought for awhile before saying, "I'll take it."

* * *

"He was totally spacing out the whole time." Kirihara said, throwing a smirk at Ryoma.

"Shut up Kirihara-sempai." growled Ryoma, returning a glare in return. "It's known as thinking. Something I guess you seldom do." This started another argument between Ryoma and Kirihara. "They never seem to stop fighting, do they?" Yagyuu commented, pushing up his spectacles. Niou casually slung an arm around him before answering, "What do you think? They are brats after all. Ryoma-kun wasn't like that in the past though, he was quiet and emotionless."

The Rikkaidai gang was having lunch as usual except that Yukimura and Sanada were not present. This meant that the gang was out of control. Ryoma and Kirihara were fighting over the smallest matters; Niou was having a 'civil' conversation with Yagyuu. Marui was sharing his strawberry cake with Jackal and Yanagi was just scribbling something into his books. 'Do you know about Buchou's fiancée?'

The topic immediately changed. Ryoma's face turned even darker, if that's possible, though no one noticed. "I heard she is very pretty and gentle!" "She is the second in the first year level, only losing to Ryoma-chan!" "Is that true? I heard she is good in sports too." "I heard she is in the same class as Echizen."

Everyone stared at Ryoma, as if they just realised his presence. Now, Ryoma's face was emotionless, but his eyebrow was slightly twitching. He remembered that the Miyoshi female followed him everywhere for the whole day. He finally managed to get away from her and now she just had to appear in their conversation. 'Honestly, what did that girl wants? She sprouts the weirdest nonsense and stalks him. How much worse can it get.'

There was silence for awhile as the regulars waited for Ryoma's comment. Getting annoyed with everyone staring at him, Ryoma was about to snapped at them when Sanada came in, asking for Ryoma. More than happy to leave the regulars before he snapped, Ryoma stood up quickly and followed Sanada out. It was quiet as both anti-socials did not want to talk. Finally, Ryoma could not contain his curiosity and asked, "Sanada-sempai, where are we going?" Glancing back at Ryoma, Sanada gave a curt 'You will see' and silence overtook them again.

They finally stopped in front of the Rikkaidai locker room, where Ryoma could make out a human figure inside through the frosted glass windows. "Come in Sanada, Ryoma-chan" A voice Ryoma recognised as Yukimura came from the locker room, followed by a soft 'meow'. Entering the room, Ryoma could see Yukimura hugging a cat to his chest. "I will leave first then, Seiichi." Sanada's monotonous voice boomed through the quiet locker room. Seeing the nod of approval that he wanted, he nodded to Ryoma before leaving.

"Come in Ryoma-chan; don't forget to close the door." Obeying the instructions given, Ryoma went in and closed the door behind him. "Is there anything you need, Seiichi-buchou?" Ryoma walked towards Yukimura. "Here, isn't it cute?" Ryoma bent down and stared at the cat, only to be stared back in return.

Yukimura passed the cat to Ryoma and smile happily when he saw ryoma play with the cat, which he had taken a liking to. Stating softly, "His name is Karupin, do you mind keeping him?" Ryoma did not even think twice, Karupin was so cute and his father's opinion did not matter as once his mother saw the cat, she would definitely let him keep it. "Thank you, Seiichi-buchou." Ryoma said happily. Holding Karupin close to his face, he chuckled a little when he licked his face. "Stop it Karupin."

Yukimura looked at Karupin, wishing that he was in Karupin's place, but the cashier was right, pets help people open up. Not able to resist the temptation, Yukimura leaned over and pecked Ryoma on his forehead, "Lunch is almost up, let's go. Karupin would be fine in the locker room."

Blushing slightly, Ryoma nodded and put Karupin back into a red cage and walked out of the locker room, with Yukimura right behind him.

* * *

Tomoka and Sakuno was walking past the tennis courts when Tomoka spotted Ryoma exiting the locker room. She was about to call out to him when she spotted Yukimura walking behind him. Her eyes widened as she saw Yukimura slip an arm around a slightly blushing Ryoma. "It-it-it c-can-can't be! What is Yukimura-sempai doing with Ryoma-sama?" Tomoka stuttered, utterly horrified by what she saw. Sakuno beside her was in no better condition; her face was cherry red and her eyes were as wide as it could go.

"It must be because they are very good friends and they are talking about, right Sakuno?" Tomoka and Sakuno were trying very hard to convince themselves that their idol and the equally cool Rikkaidai captain were just friends and nothing more, but they were failing miserably.

"Yukimura-buchou, what did you do to Ryoma-chan? He was grumpy and all before he left with Sanada to find you but when he came back to take his lunch box, he was in a much better mood and was blushing slightly, did you do something?" Yukimura directed an innocent smile at Marui causing him to unconsciously take a few steps side wards until he was directly behind Jackal. "I merely showed him something, what else could I have done?"

No one dared to answer that question, in fear of making Yukimura angry. Having no answer in return, Yukimura turned around and walked out the door, with the rest of them following behind him like a flock of lamb.

* * *

Sakuno could not help but stared at Ryoma, who was spacing off with a small smile on his face. He was thinking about Karupin and what he would get for him. However, Sakuno was thinking a little too far and was breaking her own her heart in the process. 'Ryoma-kun, you really like Yukimura-sempai a lot, don't you?'

"Can you answer this question, Sakuno?" The teacher asked. Surprised, she began to stuttered, "Umm, I…" "Do you know the answer then, Kachiro?" She got the same response from him. After several similar responses, she finally gave up and said, "Echizen-kun, please answer the question on the board." Ryoma snapped out of his daze and answered the question, "The answer is one thousand and fifty square centimetres, sensei."

Sighing, she said a soft 'finally' before muttering something about the students not being able to answer a question and another that can answer even with him spacing out throughout the lesson. Though most of what she was saying could not be understood by the students.

* * *

This is the end of chapter 17. Please review. And for those who review, thanks for reviewing.


	18. Finding out

NOTE: Sorry for delaying the update until now, I was planning to update soon but due to an upcoming examination, I have to study. This chapter is quite rushed so… I am afraid it won't be very good. Saying that this chapter is short would also be an understatement; I will try to make the next chapter as long as I can though. Hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

* * *

"We shall stop here today, please remember to bring your homework tomorrow." The teacher announced, gathering her books from the teacher's table. She seemed more anxious to leave the class than the rest of the students. "You are dismissed." Many of them rushed to the exit, wanting to leave the class in the quickest time possible.

Ryoma, not being one of them, slowly kept his books and stood up, planning on heading home. There wasn't any training today as all the second and third years extra lessons to prepare them for the final year paper. This means that he had more time to play with his new pet that Yukimura gave him. He had loved it from the first moment he had set eyes on it.

Walking out of the class, he ignored his fan girls who were squealing and squeaking and quickened his footsteps. He couldn't wait to see Karupin.

As he was rounding a corner, he was stopped by a firm and familiar voice. "Please wait, Echizen-san."

* * *

"Echizen-san, I have to talk to you about something."

Ryoma who was already facing Miyoshi looked at her blankly, causing her to twitch slightly. Of course he knew she wanted to talk to her, why else would she corner him in the end of a passageway?

"I guess you have not notice but I have been following you around for the past few days." Ryoma stared at her like she was a retard; she thought he would not notice with her having such poor stalking skills? If he could play tennis with his eyes closed, why won't he be able to find out that she was stalking him?

"After these few days, I have found out some things about you. But what I don't like about this all is that you have been sticking to Seiichi-kun like some disgusting cheap gum." He was slightly surprised at the words she said. She was supposed to a polite and demure girl from a respectable family, although she was quite irritating, she did not strike him as a snob.

Looking at her, he could see jealously was barely veiled in her eyes. She finally decided to confront him as she couldn't take how close they are.

"What did you do to Seiichi-kun? Why did he give you a cat?" Her clenched fist was shaking in barely controlled anger. Ever since young, she had not received anything from Seiichi-kun, other than a polite greeting. Yet this…this scrawny little… boy had his complete attention and Seiichi-kun even gave him a cat!

Her eyes filled up with tears, threatening to fall out. It wasn't fair! She had work so hard to gain his attention by getting good results in sports and academic, she even learnt how to play tennis for his sake! Yet she wasn't even spared a glance, just because she would be his fiancée; she sometimes think that he would even treat a stranger better than her.

"I am now challenging you to a tennis match, since that is your specialty. If I win-" She was cut off by an impolite 'no'. 'Girls are weird,' Ryoma decided, 'one minute they are crying, the other they are challenging you to tennis matches.' He would have agreed to play the match in the past but now that he had Karupin, he felt like spending every second with it.

Just when he was about to stomp off, she added, "You are going back home to see the kitten that Seiichi-kun gave you right?"

This girl was starting to annoy him, with her 'Seiichi-kun this' and 'Seiichi-kun that'. Somehow, it irritates him to see others being very informal with his captain. "So what if I am? What's wrong with seeing my own pet?" Ryoma retorted; precious cat bonding time was being wasted by her useless babble.

Taking his phone out, he check the time before turning around, he quickly walked off, unaware that he had dropped something important. Miyoshi was bewildered and angry. 'What a rude person! He could he-' A photograph caught her eye. "What is this?"

* * *

"By using this formula, you should be able to…" The teacher's voice chanted on and on, and Yukimura was staring blankly out of the window. He was thinking so hard that he did not notice the other tennis regulars staring at him.

It used to be rare for Yukimura to space out but since Miyoshi has arrived, seeing him space out has became normal. The others might think that he was thinking about his fiancée, but the regulars knew better; a certain golden eyed first year regular occupied their captain's every thought.

One by one, the regulars found out. Those who tried anything with Ryoma would get assigned laps, those who got too close were glared at and so on so forth. The regulars never knew that Yukimura was that possessive.

One of the third years was extremely unlucky; he tripped over a ball basket and fell on top of Ryoma. He was later assigned a hundred laps for not watching where he was going and endangering the safety of another teammate. The poor guy ran until the eighty fourth lap before his legs gave up on him.

Everyone noticed that their respected captain was very protective of the first year regular, except the said regular himself. It was either he was very dense or that he noticed but didn't care. According to Yanagi's data, the former was more likely to be the reason. The boy didn't seem to notice anything other than tennis. And now add Karupin to the list.

After class, Miyoshi approached Yukimura. "Seiichi-kun, I have to talk to you about Echizen Ryoma."

* * *

NOTE: I hope you enjoy it. I won't be able to update until the 10 of October. I will try to update on that day. However, I might be going out on that day to celebrate my birthday so I can't say for sure.

To all that reviewed the previous chapter, thank you from reviewing. The reviews are greatly appreciated.

Please review.

Life beyond wishes


	19. Trouble

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

Note: I'm really sorry for not updating earlier. I would have done so but since the beginning of the year, my results have been getting from good to bad, bad to worse. I had to allocate more time to studying and less to using the computer. Plus, I will be taking part in this year's NDP, which means that all of my Saturdays would be taken up. And when I get home during the weekdays, I'm usually too tired to even move, so... the bottom line is that I would not be able to update often. For that I am very sorry.

Back to the story, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"Would you mind explaining this picture?"

Yukimura froze when he saw it. He had the exact same picture in his wallet. "How… did you get it?" Miyoshi knew that this was the closest answer she could have got to a 'yes'. "It fell out of Echizen-san's pocket just now."

Yukimura was surprised. He would never have guessed that Ryoma would have kept it with him too. He thought he would probably burn it into ashes before disposing it. Miyoshi's heart clenched at the hopeful look on Yukimura's face.

Why did he only have such happy faces around Ryoma and never with her?

"You do know what will happen if I tell our parents about this." The look on his face was immediately replaced with a stoic expression. "They would make sure that the Echizen family would disappear off this surface of the earth."

There was silence for awhile; an unsaid threat was hanging in the air.

"Be with me, forget Echizen-san and stay with me! This way, Echizen-san would be safe and everyone would be happy." Miyoshi pleaded; she did not want to threaten him but if this was the only way they would be together… she would do it.

Yukimura hesitated for awhile; considering the situation on hand. It was either Ryoma's safety or his freedom. It was a no brainer to him as he knew which he would choose even without thinking.

"I'll be with you, provided you leave the Echizen family alone."

* * *

Ryoma slowed down to a reasonable pace when he felt that the Miyoshi girl was no longer tailing him. He finally had peace and quiet.

Just as he opened the door and stepped into the porch, he felt a chill run down his spine. The eerie feeling stayed there for awhile before disappearing, but his gut instincts told him that trouble was soon to approach. Something told him that it probably had something to do with that Miyoshi girl who confronted him earlier.

Taking his shoes off, he slowed stepped into his house, petting Karupin gently on its head as he picked it up. Nothing bad would happen, right? Shrugging the uneasy feeling off, he carried Karupin and cradled him in his arms and took him to his room, conviniently forgetting about the whole issue. After all, what could she do?

All this time, he did not notice the absence of the photograph in his pocket.

* * *

"I'm home! And I have brought a guest with me."

Miyoshi chirped happily; it was like a dream come true. With Seiichi-kun beside her, agreeing to marry her. It didn't matter whether his heart was with her or not, after all, feelings can change with time and he might like her after they got married. Their parents would be so pleased.

"Miyoshi, so you have brought Yukimura-kun home. Will he be staying for dinner?" Her mother walked out of her room. She was wearing a formal kimono; her hair was tied neatly into a bun and had an emotionless look on her face. She was one person Yukimura knew he had to be wary of.

She was a very scheming businesswoman; after the death of Miyoshi's father, she had single-handedly made their company into one of the most outstanding companies, though it was not on par with the Yukimura's or the Atobe's.

She knew that she would not be able to match her daughter up with the Atobe's family only son, so the Yukimura's family was her second best option. After all, though the Yukimuras' were not as rich as the Atobes', they were still considered richer than the other rich kids. By engaging her daughter to the heir of the Yukimura Company, she would be able to benefit greatly from the Yukimuras' and their contacts.

She was the one who proposed the marriage to his parents, and for that he did not have a very good impression of her.

"Tenzu-san, how are you?" Yukimura asked out of politeness; despite not liking her, he had been brought up as a gentleman.

"Thank you for asking, I am fine. I hope you were as well. I have something to attend to, so I shall leave you and Miyoshi alone. I would be in my room if you need me." After saying that, she gave a small curtsy before walking around. The tension dissipated and after awhile, Miyoshi pulled at his arm. "I'll show you around."

Nodding slightly, he allowed himself to get dragged along; with her excited chattering echoing the hallway. After being showed to almost everything in that household, she finally brought him to her room.

Her room was like what he expected; pink and flowery, with the light scent of perfume in the air. The walls were a light shade of pink, with white vertical lines. A night table made out of the finest wood was placed to the side of the bed, with a small white lamp on top of it. There was a small dresser standing near the door, with a couple of photo frames on it. A few of them were of him.

"Seiichi-kun…" Yukimura looked over; Miyoshi had her head tilted downwards. "I don't like you spending so much time with Echizen-san. You… you are supposed to be my fiancé, not his."

She blushed slightly when Yukimura raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean you are always sending concerned filled glances at him, showing him more care than other kouhais. You spoil him like some … baby."

Yukimura was rather… surprised. He wasn't very sure about his feelings for Ryoma but even Miyoshi could sense it. Could it be that he really likes Ryoma more than just a mere junior?

Miyoshi watched sadly as different expressions flashed across Yukimura's face. How she wish she was the one who could evoke all these emotions in him. When her mother told her that she would be engaged to him, she was elated. She had a crush on him since young when they first met at his seventh birthday party.

He probably would not remember but she would never forget how he helped her up when a couple of rich brats tripped her. She had a small cut on her right leg and a bruise on her left. She was on the verge of crying out loud when he appeared like her hero; her prince charming. At the age of 7, he was already highly sorted after and very popular amongst the girls. A simple smile from him could cause the admirer's heart to melt into a puddle of water. She was no exception.

"-shi-san, are you okay? Miyoshi-san?"

She blinked her eyes a couple of times, before realising that Yukimura was calling her, looking at her curiously.

"I'm fine, thank you. Sorry for worrying you." Her cheeks were tinted red as she bowed slightly; she didn't mean to space out on him.

"It's okay. Don't worry." His voice was smooth and gentle; it caused her face to turn even redder. Composing herself slightly, she gestured for a maid to bring them some green tea. She then led Yukimura to the desk near the window; which covered her whole wall, she enjoyed sipping slowly on her tea as she read English literature materials.

"I'm sorry for dragging you here; you probably had something else to do." She took the tea from the tray that the maid had set down on the table. "However, I had something very important to tell you..." She took a sip of her tea before saying:

_"As your fiancée... I would like for you to stay away from Ryoma-san."_

* * *

Well... that's all for this update. I hope you like it. I do know it is pretty short but... it is better than nothing right? I don't know when I'm free since there are SO many tests coming up. I will update when I'm free.

PS: Thanks to those who reviewed! :D Oh... and this chapter has not been proof-read.

_Life beyond wishes_


	20. Miyoshi

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

Note: Sorry for the VERY late update. It's been around… 9 months? Going to 10 I think. Anyways, now that all extra activities have more or less ended, I should have more time to update. Thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate it.

Back to the story, this chapter focuses on Miyoshi and her point of view. Hope you like it.

* * *

"What?"

Although Yukimura didn't jump up screaming or shout at her, Miyoshi knew that he was shocked at her request. Just like Miyoshi has predicted, the calm and composed façade that Yukimura normally had on slipped and the emotion currently dominant on his face was shock, with a tinge of anger in it.

'Only Ryoma-san can cause this kind of reaction from him.' She smiled bitterly. 'And tennis.'

Since they first met, Miyoshi had never seen someone as enamoured with tennis as Yukimura. Whenever she saw him, he was either trying out new tennis moves or talking about things related to tennis. Even at formal parties and gatherings, he could always be found in some corner with Atobe-san, discussing joint trainings or friendly matches.

_To him, tennis was his world, and she was merely one of the many stars attracted to him by the pull of his overwhelming charisma._

She never minded his obsession with tennis. After all, it's not like tennis could take him away from her. In fact, Miyoshi always saw tennis as a way to get closer to him. She had her mother hire famous tennis players from all over the world to teach her how to play tennis. Though she knew she would never reach his standard in tennis, at least she won't embarrass herself when he engaged her in a tennis related conversation.

_Even if I cannot replace tennis as Seiichi-kun's number one, I want to be his second priority at least._

But Seiichi-san never cared about her existence. She would be surprised if he even knew she existed. After all, all she was to him was _an irritating potential wife. _She was merely_ one of the many_ women that wanted to tie him down with a marriage. At least she was, until she convinced her mother to approach Yukimura's father to propose a marriage. It took some time, but she soon managed to convince her mother that a marriage with Seiichi-kun was more practical and realistic as compared to getting her to marry Atobe-san. After convincing her mother, everything was easier. Her mother met up with Yukimura-san, Seiichi-kun's father, and successfully talked him into setting up an arranged marriage with Seiichi-kun. When she heard of the good news, she was so happy that she couldn't sleep that night.

_Flashback _

"_I'm home." _

_Miyoshi perked at the sound of her mother's voice and she rushed down the stairs. Wearing a hopeful expression on her face, she asked. "How was it?"_

_As though she didn't hear her, Tenzu-san removed her shoes slowly, before putting it on the shoe rack. Her excitement was building, and Miyoshi clasped her hands tightly together. Please let it be successful…_

_Slowly, Tenzu-san raised her head, arching a brow at the hopeful expression on her only daughter's face. She was completely enamoured with the Yukimura heir. Sighing, she replied. "Yukimura-san said that he don't mind having an arranged marriage for his son. But if his son doesn't want it, he won't force it on him either. Either ways, he would talk to his son about it."_

_To Miyoshi, her mind stopped processing the words after the first line. She was overwhelmed with happiness that she found it hard to breathe. It was like a dream come true for her. Pinching herself, she winced at the sharp joint of pain before smiling. It wasn't a dream._

"_-shi. Miyoshi. Are you listening to me?" She snapped back to reality. "You are to change to the school he is currently studying at right now. Is that clear?"_

"_Yes."_

_End of flashback_

Transferring to his school, she had been filled with many romantic scenes, portraying the two of them as the main characters. She knew that he would probably not like her at first. But as long as he doesn't have anyone he likes, the chances of him falling in love with her is very high. Not that she would give him up if he really did have someone he likes. She would just have to work harder to make him like her. That was her naïve thought when she transferred over. With the situation at hand, she had no idea about what she should do. How can she beat a _guy_ that _excels in tennis_? A guy. How was she supposed to win a guy? How was she going to get a gay to like her? The only plausible solution was to turn into a guy. But deep down, Miyoshi knew that even if she was a guy, her Seiichi-kun wouldn't like her as well. Also, despite being trained by world-class tennis players, she knew that if she were to challenge Echizen-san to a tennis match, the chances of her losing to him with a miserable score of 6-0 is very high.

If she can't win him through honourable means, Miyoshi didn't mind resorting to threats. _After all, it is for a good purpose. Seiichi-kun will understand when he looks back at it next time when we are happily married. He will know it is all for his sake. After all, homosexual relationships might be popular now, but a few years down the road, people might not feel the same. _Miyoshi knew that many girls in her class are fans of homosexual relationships, and thus decided to stay away from them. It doesn't matter to her that she had no friends; all she came here for was her fiancée. She came here on a mission to win his heart, and by hook or by crook, she will.

_I will persevere. My feelings for you won't lose to Echizen-san's!_

* * *

This chapter is to explain Miyoshi's determination to win Yukimura over, using any way possible.

Well, this is it for now. I know it's really short. That's why there will be another chapter uploaded within the next two weeks. Hopefully.

Also, it you spot any mistakes, please tell me. Thank you!

_Life beyond wishes_


	21. Deal

Disclaimer: Prince of tennis does not belong to me.

Note: I know I said I'll update in around two weeks. And then I said I'll update by yesterday. So I guess I'm around... 19 hours late? I'm really sorry for the delay. Hope you like it!

* * *

If Yukimura was expecting her to say something, it would definitely not be the sentence she had just uttered. _As your fiancée? __Stay away from Ryoma-san? Who does she think she is! _He had just accepted her request to have an engagement and now she's throwing her weight around, demanding him to do things._ Why he ought to…!_ As the words processed in Yukimura's brain, he couldn't help but feel shocked, and a little angry_. What made her think that he would concur to her ridiculous request?_ Yukimura lifted his head and looked at the girl- no, lady, in front of him. Miyoshi sat in her chair, lost in her own thoughts. She looked like she was reminiscing for a moment, before looking slightly bitter and angry. After awhile, a determined look replaced the other emotions.

_What was she thinking?_

He roughly remembered how they first met. At a Christmas party he attended when he was younger, he was trying to escape from the cooing adults and the fawning fan girls that were getting slightly annoying by hiding in the tastefully designed garden. He was admiring the tree sculptures and exotic plants when he saw her sitting on the ground crying, looking slightly dishevelled. When he came closer, he realised that she had injuries on both legs and one of the wounds was bleeding slightly. Not knowing what to do, he offered his hand to her and helped her up. He helped her to the ball room where she was immediately fussed over by everyone, who were appalled by the fact that someone got hurt on such a joyous occasion. He remembered walking off after that. It was a few days later when school started again that Shishido came up to him and thank him for helping Miyoshi that he found out that they were cousins.

According to him, it seems that she had been nursing a crush on him ever since then. It didn't really bother him at that time, seeing that girls around that age always had passing crushes or infatuations on one boy or the other. However, as the years go by, he couldn't help but notice that her crush did not fade and she was still crushing on him. Many a times throughout the years she attempted to draw him into conversations of one topic or another. After many failed attempts at starting and holding a conversation, she found out that talking about tennis would be a conversation that interest him the most, and thus would be a conversation that would last longer. Hence, she had tried to start a tennis conversation with him, but halfway through, she was lost and didn't know what he was saying. _What was a twist serve? How do you return a buggy whip shot? Who are the people that are renown in the tennis world? _Without actually playing tennis, it was impossible to know all of these. Apparently, Miyoshi realised it as well. He had heard from Shishido that she had her mother hire famous tennis instructors and stars to coach her on tennis so that she would be able to have something to talk about with him. She also subscribed for various tennis magazines so that she was informed about all the happenings in the tennis world. Her effort to learn tennis so that he would notice her was quite touching, and he would probably have chosen her as a potential fiancée as she wasn't all that ugly, in fact, she was quite pleasant to the eye and had many a guy chasing her. The fact that she was a cousin of a close friend of his didn't hurt as well. If only he had never met Ryoma. If only.

But the fact that he met Ryoma wasn't going to change just because of all her efforts to make him like her. Besides, if he, like she claims, has feeling for Ryoma, it would mean that he would be batting for the other team. For many nights Yukimura lied in his bed, staring at the picture, trying to analyze his feelings for Ryoma. How was someone gay supposed to have feelings for the opposite gender? _Was he gay?_

Since young, Yukimura never had any inclinations towards any particular gender. Sure, he flirted a bit with Fuji and Atobe, but it was only to disturb Tezuka and Sanada. Like most of the girls in school – whether they were open about it or not- wasn't homophobic and it didn't disturb him much when he sees two guys flirting with each other. He knows as the squealing the girls did when the guys groaned when Yukimura flirted with the guys was evidence of that. If he were to announce that he was gay, Yukimura knows that the fan girls will grieve for a day or two, but they will still support him after grieving for a day or two. Provided he was gay of course. But he was exactly straight either, seeing that he didn't have crushes on his female classmates or enjoy ogling over scantily clad girls in magazines. In fact, it disgusts Yukimura how some of his classmates could read trashes like that. Giving them this kind of magazines was like giving a colouring book to a child, it was like Christmas come early. Big boobs and a model's figure didn't seem to attract him much.

Therefore, when Ryoma first appeared, Yukimura was overwhelmed by the feelings that came over him. He never had a crush before, but the increasing heart rate, the shallow and fast pulse and the need to protect – it sounds like the feelings that the knight in corny romance novels experience when they encounter princesses in high towers before they ride on their fancy white horses and live happily ever after. Like the stories Fuji's sister, Yumiko, read. Could he really be gay? For Ryoma? Or was he just Ryoma-sexual? Were the feelings he had even love? Could it be just a need to protect a junior? He tried to identify the emotions that he felt, and the few he could name were protectiveness, adoration and a need to have him close at all times. There was also a darker emotion that he felt, when other people get too close to Ryoma for his comfort; a feeling that makes him want to rip the hands off Ryoma and make sure no one touches him. The scares him more that the other emotions he feels, seeing that this is one he cannot identify.

He once subtly directed a conversation with Syuusuke towards crushes and infatuations. He guessed Syuusuke knew what he was doing, but chose not to voice his thoughts. When Yukimura asked him what love was like, Syuusuke said with a soft smile on his face that love cannot be described by words. It is different for different people. To some, love might be the need to be with each other all the time; to others, love may be the emotion that clenches their heart when they see the happy smiles on their love ones face. This made Yukimura think even more. After thinking it over again and again, he had decided that whether he had romantic feelings for his cute little junior or not, he definitely wasn't going to let anyone bully him. This protective feeling would be akin to that of what Syuusuke felt over his little brother, Yuuta.

That's why whether he has a crush or not, he would definitely not let Miyoshi do anything to him.

The atmosphere lapsed into an uncomfortable tension which can be felt by both parties. In fact, the silience was so stifling that it was almost hard to breathe. The knock on the door was welcomed by both Yukimura and Miyoshi as none of them were planning on talking first.

"Are you alright in there? I'm about to leave for a meeting and wanted to check if everything's alright." Miyoshi's mother said, raising a brow at the stiff posture the both of them were in. "You children are here to know each other better. It would be okay to relax a little and not be so formal. I'll get someone to refill your tea; it has probably gone cold, seeing that you are not touching it." Not bothering to wait for a reply, she turned and walked off after saying, "You better not go home too late Yukimura-kun, your parents might worry."

Just like how it was before, the atmosphere grew tense again. Unable to bear the silence anymore, Miyoshi tried to keep her face expressionless and voice emotionless. "So what do you think, Seiichi-kun?"

Yukimura didn't look at her. He picked up his now warm tea, stirred the drink a little before taking a sip. A technique he'd learn from his father was to stall. The lack of response would make the opposite party squirm in discomfort. Only after finishing his tea did he grace her with a reply. "I do hope you know that it would be impossible."

"Why?" The response was immediate, although it was clear that Miyoshi was trying to control herself.

Yukimura shot her an incredulous look; was she slow or something? "We are both from the tennis club. More than that, we are also from the same group of friends." Yukimura paused for a while before continuing. "Didn't you know that?"

Miyoshi flushed a pale pink. "Of course I do! But he's a first year. Can't you have him kicked out or something? I'm sure that there are plenty of talented players in the club that are not already regulars."

Yukimura felt a surge of irritation towards the girl. "Ryoma-kun _earned_ his place as a regular on the tennis team and I'm not about to take his position away from him just because you don't like it."

Miyoshi considered the situation and thought. _Seiichi-kun must think that I'm a bratty little girl to demand him to drop Ryoma-san from the tennis team. But although Ryoma-san is a good player, he is not irreplaceable! There are so many better players than him! Still, if i continuing insisting, not only will he take Ryoma-san's side, he will also reconsider the deal we made. There must be something I can do..._

Yukimura narrowed his eyes a little when he practically saw a light bulb light up in her head. _What is she up to now?_

"_Seiichi-kun, let's make a deal."_

* * *

Yukimura walked out of the Tenzu household and headed straight to Atobe's house. _They should all be there since its Friday today. _The deal Miyoshi offered was very tempting, and he had accepted without second thoughts. Now that his mind was starting to clear, he was starting to regret his rash decision. _I should have discussed it with the rest first. Going on and accepting it like that, what was I thinking?_

Several cabs passed him by, but he didn't bother to flag them, despite the journey to the Atobe's was quite far. The walk there would provide him the time to think about the current situation. It wasn't that he was afraid that he would lose the bet, but he wasn't sure what kind of people they would be dealing with. Who will she hired to make her so confident? What made her so sure that she would win the bet? The confident look on her face wavered his believe slightly, and it made him not as confident that he would definitely win as he was when he agreed to the deal. Not only that, he wasn't even sure of his feelings for Ryoma. He knew there was attraction but was that love? Was this feeling that he was so uncertain about worth the risk of taking this bet?

So lost in his thoughts, Yukimura didn't realise there was someone in front of him when he bumped into a boy carrying a cat, causing the cat to give out a loud meow before falling down with his owner.

Startled, Yukimura immediately bent down and offered a hand to the boy, apologising for his carelessness. It wasn't until he looked at the boy in the eye that he realised he had banged into Ryoma, with an angry Karupin in his arm. He could see the surprise mirrored in Ryoma's eyes as he loosened his grip on Karupin unconsciously; not enough to drop him, but enough to send it into a panic attack. The poor cat was meowing loudly, scratching at Ryoma's neck frantically. Yukimura instantly grabbed Karupin and made several calming gestures, and the feline was soon purring contentedly. Ryoma raised a hand and gently brushed his finger against the scratches Karupin made, wincing at the pain. He lifted his hand and saw droplets of blood on his finger.

Seeing this, Yukimura gently grabbed his finger and said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I feel really bad about this. How about this? I'm going to Atobe's house now, and you can come with me. There are medical supplies there and I'll help you clean those scratches."

Thinking for a while, Ryoma nodded and they began walking to Atobe's house quietly, occasionally having a conversation or two.

* * *

Ryoma was freaking out, though it wasn't obvious. It was like Tezuka having a crush or Atobe having a bad hair day... Point being that nobody could tell. He kept having this weird feeling that something bad is happening, or going to happen. When he was playing with Karupin at home, he kept thinking about Miyoshi and the fact that she was going to marry someone that he respected a lot. Seiichi-sempai.

Since training had started, he had grown closer to him. In fact, he had come to respect him more than his father... which was not saying much. But till today, he was the person he respected the most and would never think of disobeying. To say the truth, if he ever thought that way, Ryoma would even think he had feelings of a romantic nature towards his captain. But sadly, Ryoma wasn't someone who considered people romantically. Though he wasn't sure why his heart twinge when the girls in his class gossip over how Yukimura was taken, he did know that whatever he have of his Rikkaidai captain was precious and important to him. Therefore, it wasn't surprising to say that he was currently freaking out, trying to find the lost photo of his that he had spent many nights staring at.

Searching his whole house leaving nothing unchecked, Ryoma decided to retrace his footsteps. Perhaps he had dropped it on the way? He wasn't really paying attention the whole way back so he wasn't sure where he could have dropped it. Could he have dropped it in school? The thought of the stalkerish female finding the photo left chills crawling down Ryoma's spine. _I can't be this unlucky, can I?_

Nevertheless, he decided to start his search for the photo, bringing Karupin with him for moral support. He walked around the exterior of his house for a couple of minutes before retracing his footsteps. So intent on searching every nook and cranny he was, Ryoma didn't notice a tall slender male walking towards him and when he did, it was too late.

His butt hit the ground, causing the wind to be knocked out of him. Karupin gave a loud meow and instantly, Ryoma moved his hand up to pet her. A pale hand was offered to him and when he looked up, he was surprised to look into his captains shocked eyes. Unconsciously loosening his grip, Karupin let out a sharp cry and started scratching everything in sight, his neck being one of the unfortunate things. After Yukimura took hold of Karupin, Ryoma lifted his hand up, cringing slightly when his finger came in contact with an open wound. Withdrawing his fingers, he saw blood on his fingertip.

A concerned Yukimura looked at his cut and offered to treat them at Atobe's house. Ryoma couldn't reject, seeing the apologetic expression on his face. They were walking halfway when Ryoma lifted his arms and said. "I'm alright now. Thanks for helping me calm him down." What Ryoma didn't mention was the irrational envy he felt towards the feline when Yukimura stroked her, cooing softly at the cat. He thought it was weird to be jealous of _a cat _but decided to brush it off as temporary insanity. Gently holding the cat, Ryoma adjusted it into a comfortable position and started petting Karupin. It was after that that they lapsed into a comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to break the mood.

It was after some time that they have finally walked up to the Atobe manor, and was buzzing the bell.

A voice came from the intercom. "May I ask who is it?"

Yukimura replied. "Yukimura Seiichi and Echizen Ryoma"

Immediately, the gate swung open and the voice said. "I'll inform Master Atobe of your arrivals."

"Thank you."

Ryoma was a little fazed by the size of this place the Atobes call home. The entire walk to the main house was around a hundred times the distance he had to cross to reach his house.

Yukimura chuckled at the awed look on Ryoma's face and playfully slung an arm around his shoulder. "Amazed already? Wait till you see the inside of it."

Ryoma didn't need to be told to know it would be tastefully decorated. Unconsciously leaning into the half-hug, Ryoma grabbed on tighter to Karupin. As the main door opened, Ryoma was stunned by the details on each and every aspect of the house. The chandeliers and the long flights of stairs reminded Ryoma of the castle the beast in Beauty and the Beast live in. Well, it was just as big and twice as magnificent. They were brought to one of the games room that the tennis players claimed to be their 'headquarters'. The choice of room was obvious as all the latest games and gadgets were located everywhere in the room. There were a couple of huge sofas that could fit around 5 people and two televisions. Although Ryoma didn't understand the fun of video games, he couldn't help but admit that this room would be a dream place for the students their age.

Ryoma was going to tell Yukimura something when an arrogant voice drawled out:

"_So you have finally brought the brat over. I thought he would never come."_

* * *

Well, that's the end of this chapter. I'm so sorry that I updated this only now. The deal that Miyoshi made should be revealed... next chapter? Should be. Hope you liked it. (:

Oh! And this chapter is not proof-read. Hope you don't mind.

_Life Beyond Wishes_


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